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THE PANJAB
PAST AND PRESENT

Vol. XXVT-I APRIL 1992 Serial No.

I °i £»

DEPARTMENT OF PUNJAB HISTORICAL STUDIES
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

THE PANJAB •>;
PAST AND PRESENT

Vol. XXVI-I APRIL 1992 Serial No.

DEPARTMENT OF PUNJAB HISTORICAL STUDIES
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

Patron

Dr JOGINDER SINGH PUAR
VICE-CHANCELLOR, PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

Founder Editor
Dr Ganda Singii
Advisers

Dr A. C. Arora Dr Bhagat Singh

Editorial Board
PARM BAKHSHISH SINGH
Chief Editor

Dr GURBACHAN SINGH NAYYAR Dr GURSHARAN SINGH

Editor Editor

Dr DEVINDER KUMAR VERMA

Editor

The writers themselves are responsible for the
opinions expressed in their articles.

Published Twice a year
April and October

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Department of Punjab Historical
Studies, Punjabi University Patiala

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AND PRINTED AT THE SECULAR PRINTERS , NAMDAR KHAN ROAD,

PATIALA
APRIL 1992

CONTENTS

Inscriptions on the Coins of

MUSLIM KINGS Gurbachan Singh Nayyar 1

Cavalry of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Gulcharan Singh 14

Superstitions during the Kingdom
Of Lahore Mrs Surinder Kaur 26

Popular Reaction to the Occupation
of Punjab Hill States by The English
East India Company : A Study of the
Ballads Regarding the Exploits of

Ram Singh PATHANIA Raijasbir Singh 31

Notes on the Anjuman-i-punjab, Aligarh
Movement, Brahmo Samaj, Indian
Association, Arya samaj and Singh
Sabha in the Context of Colonial

Education in the Punjab, 1865-1885 Nazer Singh 35

The Most Controversial Sikh Coin Surinder Singh 70

Progressive Aptitude of the Punjab
Peasantry Under British Rule

1849-1901 Sukhwant Singh 81

Dr Hari Ram Gupta-The Doyen of
the Punjab Historians Dr Shiv Kumar Gupta 97

rural Sanitation in British Punjab :

A CRITICAL Study Narjeet Kaur 105

TheJagirdars and Muafidars in the
Upper BARI DoAB (1849-1947) Dr B . S. Hira 109

(i)

The Swadeshi Movement in the
Punjab (1904-1907) Sukhdev Singh Sohal 129

Ghulam Muhayy-ud-Din altas
BUTE SHAH Dr Bhagat Singh 134

Problem of Sikh Separate Identity :

A Study of Hindu Reaction of the
Early Twentieth Century in Hindi

Writings Dr Himadri Banerjee 150

Legacy of Dyal Singh Majithia Madan Gopal 156

Book Review

The Sikhs in Ferment— battles of
the Sikh Gurus : By Prof.

GuRBACHAN Singh NayyaR Devtnder Kumar Verma 188

Chhotu Ram in the Eyes of His
Contemporaries (Ed.) By

PARDAMAN Singh Nazer Singh 190

(ii)

Inscriptions on the Coins of
Muslim Kings

Gurbachan Singh Nayyar*

Coins of all ages are most valuable treasure of antiquarian
interest which provide invaluable assistance for connecting missing
links of past history and for equipping us with indispensable
knowledge of several aspects of the rulers and their states. Much
has been done in numismatic studies and researches by Wilson,
Edward Thomas, Prinsep, Cunningham, Rodgers and others.
Out of the wide variety of coins such as Sikh coins, Persian
coins. Central Asian coins, coins of native states like Patiala,
Nabha, Jind, Maler Kotla, Alwar etc., we take the coins of some
Muslim kings. The genealogical tables of various dynasties will
help us to recapitulate the chronology of the respective rulers.
We reproduce here the translation of Arabic into English of a few
coins as given by Syad Muhammad Latif vide his Lahore : Its History,
Architectural Remains and Antiquities, Lahore, 1892.

Ghaznivide Dynasty**

Genealogy of the Kings of Ghizni

Sabuktagin

Ismail

Mahmud

Muhammad

Abdul Rashid

Masud I

Ibrahim

Modud

Farakhzad

Masud III

Masud II

Sultan Arsalan

Bahram Shah
Khusrow Shah
Khusrow Malik

^Professor, Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University,
Patiala.

**Spellings of dynastic and personal names kept as used in Latif’s work
mentioned in the text.

VOL. XXV-1

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

Muslim kings took pride in calling themselves the Deputy of
the Khalifa of Baghdad. The expression 'Amir of the faithful’
inscribed on the coins signifies the Khalifa of the time. Amir
Sabuktagin- who flourished 'in the time of Almoatti, Khalifa of
Baghdad, was a Tartar by birth and having been a trained horseman
in the service of Alaptagin achieved numerous victories in the
battle-fields. He died in Tarmuz in Balkh in August 997 A.D. when
he was 56 years old and was hurried in Ghizni. His coins which are
quite in line with the principles of theocracy as envisaged by Muslim
kings depict and bestow confidence on the Almighty who is deemed
to have no equal, associate or companion and His command
considered as supreme one. Muhammad was acknowledged as
Prophet of God.

There is no God but God, arid Muhammad is the Prophet
of God. God is one, with no compeer. Obedient to the
command of God, Nuh alias Sabuktagin, son of Mansur.

Sultan Mahmud surnamed Amin-ul-Millat Yamin-ud-Daulah,
or the asylum of Faith flourished in the time of Alkadar Billah, the
Abbasi, Khalifa of Baghdad. He was the right hand of the state
and was also known as Butshikan or the Iconoclast. He was the
eldest son of Sabuktagin. He died of the stone on 29 April 1030 in
the ,63rd year of his age and the 33rd of his reign. He was burried
by torch-light in Kasr Ferozi, known as the place of triumph at
Ghizni. He struck the following coins at Lahore in 419 A.H. which
he calls here Mahmudpur :

Beginning in the name of God the coin was struck at
Mahmudpur in 419 A.H.

The coins of Mahmud bear the name of Khalifa and of Mahmud
with his usual titles. The reverse and the margin bear inscriptions
in Hindi characters.

Masud-I son of Mahmud having deposed his brother Muhammad
ascended the throne in 1031. The army deposed, him and put him
to death in the castle of Kari in 1042. He was the contemporary
of Khalifa of Baghdad. His coins after the Kalma read :

Obedient to the command of God, victorious of the religion
of God, Masud.

Coins of Ibrahim, the brother of Farakhzad and son of Masud
who ascended the throne on his brother’s death and died in 1098
after reigning 42 years read :

(i) The great and just Sultan, the mightiest of kings, the most
noble of sovereign, the father of victory, Ibrahim.

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS

(ii) There is no God but God, and Muhammad the Prophet of
God. Obedient to the command of God, the king of
Islam.

Khusrow Shah son of Emperor Bahram became the saluted king
of Ghizni on the death of his father. He died at Lahore in 1160
after seven years of reign and his son Khusrow Malik ascended the
throne. He was destined to be the last of the line of Ghizni kings
who had reigned from 962 to 1186 and the empire passed from the
house of Ghizni to that of Ghour dynasty.

The Ghori and Tartar Slave Dynasties

Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori
(Succeeded by his slave and General
Qutub-ud-Din Ebuk)

Aram Shah Daughter,

married to Shams-ud-Din
Altamash, the adopted son and
son-in-law of Qutub-ud-Din

Rukun-ud-Din

Sultana

Bahram

Nasir-ud-

Daughter,

Feroze Shah

Razia

Shah

Din

married to

Mahmud

Ghias-ud-

Ala-ud-Din

Shah

Din Balban

Masud Shah

Kera Khan

Kekubad

Sultan Shahab-ud-Din surnamed Muhammad Ghori

bin Sam is

considered as the founder of Muslim Emp

ire in India.

He reigned

for thirty-two years from the commencement of his reign at Ghizni.
While on his march to his western provinces he was assassinated oh
the bank of the Indus by the Ghakkars, the prominent tribesmen of
the times on 14 March 1206. He was succeeded by his slave and
General Qutub-ud-Din Ebuk. The adverse of his coins reads :

Coins of The great Sultan, the honour of the world and

Muhammad religion, the father of victory, Muhammad. The

Ghori margin to the reverse of his coins has the inscription :

He is the Lord who sent His Prophet for guidance
with a true religion that he might cause that
religion to triumph over all others.

VOL. XXV-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Coins of Qutub-ud-Din ajid Yelduz

The coins struck by Qutub-ud-Din Ebuk also bear almost the
same impression. The king who temporarily occupied the Punjab
soon after the accession of Qutub-ud-Din Ebuk in 1206 was Yelduz.
His coins have the following inscription :

(i) Honoured in this world and in religion, the slave of God,
Yelduz.

(ii) The great Sultan honoured in the world and religion,
Yelduz.

Aram Shah ascended the throne after the demise of his father
Qutub-ud-Din in 1210 but was deposed the same year by Shams-ud-
Din Altamash who ruled till 1235 when he expired.

A specimen of his coins bear the inscription :

Coins of The great Sultan, the son of the world and

Shams-ud- religion, the father of victory, Altamash, the king.
Din Altamash the head of the faithful.

He struck a coin at Lahore with the inscription :

Obv : The just and great king Sultan Altamash.

Rev : Struck at Lahore.

Rukun-ud-Din Feroze was crowned king on the
demise of his father Altamash at Delhi. His sister
Sultana Razia defeated him with the result that he
was deposed during the very year of his accession i.e.
November 1236. Sultan Rukun-ud-Din’s coins bear
the inscription in Hindi :

Suritan Sri Rukun-ud-Din

Some coins bear the impression of a horseman and a
bull.

The coins of Sultana Razia who succeeded her
brother Rukun-ud-Din Feroze and remained on the
throne of Delhi till 1239 have the word ‘Razia’
inscribed on them. Some of the coins read :

The great Sultan contended in this world....

Coins of Moiz-ud-Din Bahram Shah son of
Altamash bear the inscription in Hindi on the
obverse :

Sri Moij

The reverse of the coins bear the impression of
a horseman;

Coins of
Rukun-ud-Din
Feroze Shah

Coins of

Sultana

Razia

Coins of

Bahram

Shah

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS

The coins of Ala-ud-Din Masud read :

Inscriptions
of Ala-ud-Din
Masud

The great Sultan, elevated in state and religion,
the father of victory, Masud Shah, the king Struck
during the reign of Imam Mustasam, the chief
of the faithful.

Ala-ud-Din Masud succeeded Moiz-ud-Din Bahram Shah. He
was the son of Rukun-ud-Din Feroze and was deposed by his uncle
Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud who placed him in confinement in 1246.

Coins of The coins of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud bear almost

Nasir Din the same impression as those of Ala-ud-Din Masud.
Mahmud Nasir-ud-Din was the son of Shams-ud-Din Altamash
who succeeded Ala-ud-Din. He reigned for more
than twenty years when he expired in the year 1266.

Coins of

Ghias-ud-Din

Balban

Obv :

The great Sultan, the asylum of state and
religion, the father of victory, Sultan
Balban.

Rev :

The Imam, defender of the faithful,
Mustasam.

Margin :

This coin has been struck in the metropolis
of Delhi.

Ghias-ud-Din Balban was the son-in-law of Altamash. He
occupied the throne till 1286 when he died and buried in Dar-ul-
Aman in the precincts of Qutab Minar, Delhi.

The coins of Moiz-ud-Din Kekubad bear the same inscription
as above. Kekubad was the grand son of Ghias-ud-Din Balban who
ruled till 1288 when he was murdered by Jalal-ud-Din Feroze
Khiljai.

The Tartar Khiljai Dynasty

Jalal-ud-Din Khiljai

Ala-ud-Din Khiljai

Shahab-ud-Din Umar
Khiljai

Gugrish Khan

Almas Beg

Qutab-ud-Din Mubarak
Shah

Coins of The great Sultan, the glory of State and religion,

Jalal-ud-Din the father of victory, Feroze Shah, the Sultan. The

Feroze Shah Amir of the faithful, Imam Mustasam.

VOL. XXV-1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

The Khiljai dynasty lasted from 1288 to 1321. Jalal-ud-Din
Feroze Shah was the chief of the Khiljai dynasty who succeeded
Kekubad on the throne of India at the age of seventy. He was
murdered by his nephew Ala-ud-Din in 1295 after the seventh year of
his reign.

Coins of The second, Alexander, the right hand of state,

Ala-ud-Din the victorious, the Amir of the faithful.

Khiljai The coin was struck at the capital at Delhi in

701.

Ala-ud-Din Khiljai was crowned king in the end of 1296. He
expired in the year 1316 after ruling India for 20 years. He was
buried in the precincts of the Kutab Minar in Delhi.

Coins of Rev v : Mubarak Shah, the king, son of the

Qutab-ud-Din king, strengthened by the grace of

Mubarak Shab God, the Amir of the faithful.

Margin : The coin was struck in the Dar ul-

Islam in the year 717.

The Toghlak Dynasty

Sister married Ghias-ud-Din Toghlak I

SalarRajab |

I I

Feroze Shah Muhammad Toghlak I

Fateh Khan Nasir-ud-Din

Muhammad
Toghlak. II

Ghias-ud-Din II |

Humayun surnamed
Sikandar Shah

The Toghlak dynasty lasted from 1321 to 1398. It may be
said to have prolonged to 1412 including the period of TymUr’s
invasion.

Coins of The valiant Sultan, the asylum of State and

Ghias-ud-Din religion Toghlak Shah, the conquering king, the Amir
Toghlak of the faithful. This coin was struck at Delhi, the

capital. .

Mahmud Toghlak

Zaffar Khan
Abubakr

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS

Some of the coins have the inscription in Hindi :

Sti Sultan Ghias-ud-Din

Ghias-ud-Din Toghlak was the son of a Turki slave of
Ghias-ud-Din Balban by an Indian mother. He was elected king by
the unanimous voice of the people. He was killed by falling down
from the pavilion in 1325 and was buried in the environs of Delhi.

Muhammad The coin became current in the time of the slave

Toghlak of God, depended on His mercy, Muhammad Toghlak.

Verily, he who obeys the king, obeys God. Struck at
Delhi, the capital.

Muhammad Toghlak was the eldest son of Ghias-ud-Din
Toghlak and suceeded his father. He ruled for 27 years and died

The great Sultan, the sword of religion, the
Amir of the faithful, the father of victory, the king
Feroze Shah; may his kingdom last for ever.

The coin was struck in the time of Imam, the
Amir of the faithful, the father of victory, Almustasad
Billah, may he reign for ever !

Feroze Shah Toghlak was the cousin of Muhammad Toghlak
who ascended the throne after the latter’s demise and ruled for 38
long years when he expired in 1388.

Fateh Khan, son of Feroze Shah also struck coins ;

Fateh Khan, son of Feroze Shah, may his dignity, by the
grace of God, last for ever.

Struck in the time of Imam, the Amir of the faithful, the
father of victory Almustasad; may his Khalifat last
for ever.

Fateh Khan expired in 1379 during the life time of his father
and was buried at a place known as Qadam Sharif situated at a
distance of about \\ miles to the south of Lahori Gate of modern
Delhi. The sacred foot-print believed to be the impression of the
foot of the Prophet Muhammad, on a small slab of marble was
placed over the grave. The place came to be known as Qadam
Sharif owing to this reason.

Coins of Abubakr Shah son of Zaffar, son of Feroze Shah

Abubakr the Sultan, struck in the time of Khalifa Abu

Shah Abdullah; may his Khalifat last for eyer.

in 1351.

Coins of
Feroze Shah
Toghlak

VOL. XXV-J

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

Abubakr Shah was the grandson of Feroze Shah Toghlak. He
succeeded Ghias-ud-Din II and ruled for \\ years till 1389.

Coins of (i) Muhammad Shah Sultan, the deputy of the

Nasir-ud-Din Amir of the faithful; struck in the capital

Muhammad II of Delhi, 793.

and (ii) The great Sultan, the father of victory,

Mahmud Mahmud Shah, son of Muhammad Shah,

Toghlak son of Feroze Shah Sultan. Struck in the

time of the Imam, the head of the faithful,
may his Khalifat last for ever !

Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Toghlak II succeeded Abubakr in
1390. He ruled only for six years. Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad
Toghlak II was succeeded by his eldest son, Humayun who was also
known by the name of Sikandar Shah albeit, he expired after his
reign of 45 days. He was succeeded by Mahmud Toghlak. His
reign witnessed the invasion of Tamerlane (in A.D. 1398). Mahmud
expired in 1412 after the reign of twenty long years. He is represented
by gold coins.

The Syad Dynasty

Syad Khizar Khan

Syad Mubarak Shah
Syad Muhammad Shah

Syad Ala-ud-Din

Coins of

Mubark Shah Sultan, the deputy of the

Syad Mubark

Amir of the faithful. Struck in the capital

Shah

of Delhi in 835.

and

(ii)

Sultan Muhammad Shah son of Farid Shah

Syad

(struck in the time of) the Khalifa, the Amir

Muhamma4

of the faithful, may his Khalifat last for

Shah

ever — 847.

The founder of the Syad Dynasty Khizar Khan was originally the
viceroy of Lahore. He struck no coins in his own name on the
assumption of authority albeit, he ruled India in the name of Tymur
to whom he was committed to pay tribute. He got inscribed Tymur’s
name on the Khutba Mubark Shah when enthroned in 1421 after the
demise of his father Khizar Khan. He was, however, murdered in
1435 while he was busy in worship in a mosque at Delhi. He was
succeeded by his son Syad Muhammad Shah and ruled for a period
of 12 years. He died in 1445.

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS
The Lodi Dynasty

Bahlol Lodi

I .

Ala-ud-Dm

Sikandar

Ibrahim

Coins of (i) Dependent on God, Bahlol Shah, the Sultan.

(i) Bahlol Struck in the time of the Amir of the faithful—

Lodi may his Khalifat last for ever ! — in the

(ii) Sikandar capital of Delhi, in 858.

and (ii) Dependent on God, Sikandar Shah, son of

(iii) Ibrahim Bahlol Shah I, Sultan. Struck in the time of

Lodi the Amir of faithful, may his Khalifat last for

ever ! in the capital of Delhi, in 898.

(iii) Dependent on God, Ibrahim Shah, son of
Sikandar Shah Sultan. Struck in the time
of the Amir of the faithful, may his Khalifat
I last for ever !

Bahlol Lodi ruled for thirty-eight years and died in 1488.
Sikandar succeeded his father Bahlol Lodi and ruled for twenty eight
years and five months. He expired in 1517. He was succeeded by
Ibrahim Lodi in 1517. He was slain in 1526 in the celebrated battle
of Panipat fought between the Indians and the Mughals. The
Mughal supremacy was acknowledged under Babar.

The Sur Dynasty

Hassan Khan Sur

I I I

Sher Shah Sur Nizam Khan

1 I

II I

Adil Shah Sur Salem Shah Sur Daughter married

| | Muhammad Shah Sur

Sikandar Shah Sur Feroze Shah Sur

(i) Sher Shah, the Sultan; may God perpetuate
his kingdom and state ! The friend of
religion and the world, the father of victory,
the just Sultan. There is no God, but God,
and Muhammad is the prophet of God —

Coins of

(i) Sher Shah

(ii) Islam Shah

(iii) Mohammad
Shah

VOL. XXV-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1 992

(iv) Ibrahim Abubakr, Umar, Usman and Ali.

Shah, and ‘ (ii) The father of victory, Islam Shah, the son

(v) Sikandar of Sher Shah, the Sultan, may God perpe-

Shah tuate his kingdom ! Struck in the time of the

Amir, the defender of the faith, the splendour
of the religion and of the world.

(iii) The warrior by the grace of God, in the cause
of religion, Muhammad Sheh, the Sultan;
may God perpetuate his kingdom !

(iv) Struck in the time of the Amir, the defender,
the father of victory, the Sultan Ibrahim
Shah, may God perpetuate his reign — 962.

(v) Struck in the time of Amir, the defender,
dependent on God. Sikandar' Shah, the
Sultan — 962.

Sher Shah Sur was crowned king of Bengal in 1539. He assumed
sceptre of royalty at Agra on the flight of Mughal king Humayun.
He was killed in 1545 by the bursting of a shell in Kalinjar. Jalal
Khan succeded him in the fortress of Kalinjar in 1545 by the title
of Islam Shah. He. reigned for about 8 years and expired at Gwalior
in 1553. Muhammad Shah Sur, Adili, the son of Nizam Khan
assumed the Imperial diadem in 1553. Ibrahim Shah, the brother-in-
law of Muhammad Shah, usurped the throne. Albeit, Sikandar
Shah having expelled Ibrahim Shah assumed the regalia of royalty.
However, he expired in Bengal after a brief rule.

The Moghul Dynasty

Coins of Sultan Mahmud Yarlaghi Amir Tymur, Gurgan.

Amir Tymur There is no God but God and Muhammad is the
Prophet of God — 781.

Qutab-ud-Din Amir Tymur, Gurgan, surnamed Sahib-i-Qiran-i-
Azim also known as Tymur Beg and Tymur Lang from his lameness.
Born near Kesh on 6 April, 1336, he was fifth in descent from
Karalchar Miyan, the relative and counsellor of Changez Khan. He
died on 8 Februa ry 1405 at Alrar, 74 farsangs from Samarkand when
he was seventy. He was buried at Samarkand in a tomb which
he had himself ca u sed to be erected for the purpose.

Coin of (i) Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babar Badshah-i-

(i) Babar Ghazi.

(ii) Humayun (ii) The great Sultan, the revered sovereign,
and' Muhammad Humayun, the valiant; may

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS

(iii) Akbar

Coins of
Jahangir,
Shah Jahan,
Aurangzeb
Alamgir

Coins of
Shah Alam,
Jahangir Shah,
Farrukh Siyar

God, the most High perpetuates his kingdom
and state. Struck at Chandahar — 95.

(iii) God is great. Eminent is His glory.

(Struck in the Mint of Lahore).

The great Sultan Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad
Akbar, Badshahi-i-Ghazi, may God perpe-
tuate his reign and state.

Struck at Agra in 971. (Agra Mint;

The king Nur-ud-Din Jahangir,

(i) Son of King Akbar has made the face of
gold to shine like the sun and moon — Struck
at Lahore, 1015.

(ii) The second Lord of constellation Shahab-ud-
Din Muhammad Shah Jahan, Badshah-i-
Ghazi. Struck in Lahore, the Dar-ul-
Saltanat.

(iii) The King Aurangzeb Alamgir. Struck gold
coin in the world like the luminous sun.

(i) The coin of Shah Alam Badshah-i-Ghazi.
struck in Lahore, the Dar-ul-Saltanat, in
the first year of the auspicious reign.

(ii) The victorious Emperor Jahandar Shah, the
valiant.

Put his stamp on the sun and moon through
the world,

Struck in Shah Jahanabad, the capital in the
first year of the auspicious reign.

(iii) Farrukh Siyar, the monarch of the land and
sea put his stamp on silver and gold
through the grace of God.

Struck in Lahore, the Dar-ul-Sultanat, in the
second year of the auspicious reign.

Qutab-ud-Din Muhammad Muazzam Shah Alam Bahadur Shah
Was born in 1643 in the Deccan. His death took place at Lahore on
19 February 1712 in the fifth year of his reign. He obtained the
title of Khuld Manzil after his demise.

Jahandar Shah, Muhammad Muz-ud-Din was born in 1660 in
the Deccan. He died in 1713. He obtained the title of Khuld
Aramgah after death.

VOL XXV-I. THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Muhammad Farukh Siyar was born in 1686. He reigned for 6
years and 4 months. Hi s death took place in 1719. He was given
the title of Shahidi Mahrum after his demise.

Coins of (i) Rafi-ul-Darajat, the monarch of land and sea.

Rafi-ul-Darajat, Struck coin in India with thousands of

Rafi-ud-Daula, blessings. Struck at Lahore, the Dar-ul-

Muhammad Sultanat, in the first year of the reign.

Shah (ii) The auspicious coin of the valiant king

Shahjahan. Struck at Lahore, the'Dar-ul-
Sultanat, in the first year of auspicious
reign.

(iii) The fortunate coin of Muhammad Shah,
the valiant king. Struck at Lahore, the
Dar-ul-Sultanat, in the first year of the
auspicious reign.

Shamas-ud-Din Abul Barakat Rafi-ul-Darajat died in 1718 and
was buried in the mausoleum of Humayun.

Muhammad Shah, Abul Fatah, Roushan Akhtar, Nasir-ud-Din
was born on 5 August 1702 in the neighbourhood of Ghazni. He
died on 14 April 1748 at Delhi in the thirty-first year of his reign
when he was 46 years of age. He was bestowed the title of Firdaus
Aramgah after death.

Coins of (i) The fortunate coin of Ahmad Shah Bahadur,

(i) Ahmad Shah the valiant king A.H. 1162. Struck at Lahore,

(ii) Alamgirll the capital, in the first year of the auspicious

(iii) Shah Alam II reign.

and (ii) The king Aziz-ud-Din Alamgir. Struck

(iv) Akbar Shah coin in the seven climes like the luminous

sun and moon, 1170.

(iii) The shadow of God’s mercy, the Defender
of the religion of Muhammad, Shah Alam,
the king put his stamp on the seven climes.

(iv) The fortunate coin of the lord of second
constellation, Muhammad Akbar, Badshah-i-
Ghazi. Struck at Shah Jahanabad, the
Darulkhilafat, in the first year of the auspi-
cious reign.

Mojahid-ud-Din Abul Nasir Ahmad Shah was born in 1727. He
died in 1775 and buried at Qadam Rasul in the environs of Delhi.
Abul’ Adi Az-ud-Din Muhammad Alamgir II was born in 1687. He

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COINS OF MUSLIM KINGS

died on 11 November 1759 at the age of seventy-three. He was
buried in the sepulchre of Humayun. Ali Gauhar Shah Alam II was
born in 1727 at Allahabad. He died in 1807 at the age of eighty-one
and was buried at Qutab Minar Delhi. He was bestowed with
the title of Firdaus Manzil after his death. Abul Nasr Muin-ud-Din
Akbar Shah II was born in 1759. He died in 1821 at the age of
sixty-two. He was given the title of Arsh Aramgah after death.

Some specimens of inscriptions on coins of the Afghan kings
may be enumerated here for the knowledge and interest of the
readers.

Coins of
(i) Nadar Shah,

(ii) Ahmad Shah
Durrani,

(iii) Tymur Shah,

(iv) Shah Jam an

(i) The king of kings, the lord of constellation
is Nadir, the head of the kings of the world.
May God prolong his reign. Struck at
Bhakhar, 1158.

(ii) By the command of God, the inscrutable
Ahmad, the king struck coin cn silver
and gold from the bottom of the sea to the
height of the moon. Struck at Lahore,

• the Dar-ul-Sultanat, in the first year of
the auspicious reign.

The pearl of the age, Ahmad Shah, the king.

(iii) By the command of God and the Prophet
of the people the coin of Tymur Shah
became current in the world, 1171. Struck
at Lahore, the Dar-ul-Sultanat, in the first
year of the auspicious reign.

(iv) Through the grace of God, the Lord of

both worlds coin became current in state
in the name of Shah Zaman. Struck at
Peshawar in the eighth year of the auspicious
reign.

Cavalry of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Gulcharan Singh*

Before Maharaja Ranjit Singh appeared on the scene, the Khalsa
army consisted entirely of horsemen. Saddle was their home. They
were armed with matchlock and sabre. Everyone brought his own
horse and a matchlock which was rewarded by protection and share
in plunder. •

The state of affairs then prevalent in the Panjab have been
aptly described by Sita Ram Kohli thus : “The Sikh population of
the Pan jab was practically soldier to a man. The country under
their possession at the time presented the appearance of a vast
military camp, with a number of powerful Chiefs and Sardars, each
having a large body of faithful retainers besides fairly good resources
of men and material, at his command. The followers of a Chief
claimed a share in the spoils of a conquest as a matter of right, and,
in his corporate capacity, regarded himself as an equally true
representative of the Khalsa .” 1 The Maharaja had realized the low
value of the irregular cavalry. So, he made efforts to convert them
into a regular force, by training them on the western lines. For this,
he employed a few European officers. Whenever he subdued a
Chief he employed great tact, and instead of disbanding the Chief’s
forces he absorbed them lock, stock and barrel into his own and
trained them too on western lines. He carried on with the granting
of military fiefs, and abolishing them gradually. In this way he was
able to raise regularly paid strong cavalry.

Subsequently, the Maharaja introduced new measures. His
cavalry was divided into the following three categories :

(a) Regular Cavalry.

(b) Ghorchara Fauj.

These are discussed separately hereunder.

*Lt Col. (Retd ), Model Town, Jalandhar City.

1. Maharaja Ranjit Singh Centenary Volume, pp . 77-78.

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

Regular Cavalry.

This force formed the smallest part of the Maharaja’s cavalry.
It was well disciplined and had the best in horses, men and equip-
ment. The Cuirassiers and the Dragoons 2 were “a fine body
of men in appearance and equipment no less than in drill and
discipline.” 3

This force was trained and organised on the western lines by
General Jean Francois Allard, a Frenchman employed by the
Maharaja in March 1822. He was paid the “liberal” salary of
Rupees 30,000 per annum. In 1822, there were only four trained
regiments of cavalry; but by 1829 this number was increased four
times.

Various foreign visitors to the Panjab who happened to see the
Maharaja’s cavalry have described it in their own way. A few
descriptions are given below. Doctor Murray, Surgeon, 4th Regiment,
Native Infantry, Lahore, in a letter (dated 1st January, 1827) to
Captain Wade, Political Assistant at Ludhiana, wrote :

“...While the Raja was at breakfast, two regiments of cavalry
(about one thousand men in all) had arrived and taken up
ground about two hundred yards in front. They were drawn up
in line and after performing a few evolutions which were done
very slowly, they marched round in review by threes. The men
were dressed in red jackets and pantaloons. They also had red
linen pugries (turbans). They were good looking men, and well
mounted. The horses were also in good order. The first regiment
had sabres and carbines slung in the usual manner along the
right side and thigh. The 2nd Regiment Was dressed and
accountred in the same way, but instead of carbines they had
matchlocks slung at their backs. The carbines and matchlocks
were all made at Lahore. The Raja said there was a large
manufactory of matchlocks at this place, from which they were
exported in great quantities to other parts of Hindustan. The
two regiments were commanded by a Mr Gordon, a half caste
in Raja’s service. He came up and saluted the Raja after the
Review, and said something about the long arrears due. to the men.

2 . Dragoons wers the heavy cavalry who would fight mounted; but, ordinarily,
dismounted to fight. Horse being used for transportation. Motorised
infantry of to-day couid be said to be their successois.

3. Centenary Volume, p. 80.

VOL. XXV-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

He was told that pay would be issued soon.”

Captain C.M. Wade, Political Assistant, Ludhiana, in his report
dated 1st August 1827, to Sir C.T. Metcalfe, Resident, mentioned
Allard’s cavalry in these words :

“The Cavalry commanded by M. Allard consists of
two regiments of Dragoons and one of lancers. One
Regiment of Dragoons is armed with swords and carbines, the
other with swords and matchlocks. The lancers with lances
and swords. The carbines are slung with the muzzles upwards,
the reverse of the mode adopted in the British army. The
Dragoons are mostly Sikhs and wear the Sikh turban. The
Lancers are chiefly Pathans from Hindustan who have been in
the service of Holkar and Amir Khan. There are however two
troops of Sikhs in that corps. The dress and equipment of the
three regiments are uniform. The sword is slung by a waist belt.
They wore white dress when I saw them, but they have woollen
jackets for the cold season similar to that worn by Dragoons in
the French service. The jacket of the Lancers is French grey
with red facings, that of the Dragoons scarlet. The strength of
each regiment is about 1,000 men. They are not well mounted
nor, though intended as regular cavalry, in so efficient a state
comparatively speaking as the infantry which is owing to the
system of the Sawars providing their own horses and Raja’s
reluctance to incur the expense of M. Allard’s suggestion for
their perfect organisation.”

Lieut. Barr, while on his way to Kabul, halted at Peshawar

(March 1839) for a few days, and happened to see Allard’s Dragoons.

He gives the following description of their dress and arms :

“The trooper’s dress is a red jacket (by no means new or of a
bright colour), with broad facings of buff crossed in front by a
pair of black belts, one of which supports a pouch, the other a
bayonet. Round the waist, they wear a girdle, partially concealed
by a sword-belt, to which a sabre with a brass hilt and leathern
scabbard is suspended, and before the saddle is a small leathern
receptable for the butt of the carbine, which is so attached to
the individual as to give it the appearance of being slung across
the back. Their trousers are long, of dark blue cloth, with a
red stripe; and thier turbans of crimson silk, brought somewhat
into a peak in front, and ornamented in the centre with a small
brass half-hoon, from which springs a glittering spring about

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

two inches in height. Their saddles are concealed by a crimson
cloth edged with a border of blue-and-white stripes, and the harness
is adorned with brass studs. The officers are attired from top to
toe in bright crimson silk, and they merely carry a sabre attached
to their person by an ornamented belt. Altogether, the appearance
of the detachment was very creditable, and the men would look
remarkrbly well if a better cloth was used for their jackets.” 4

Organisation and Strength

The cavalry regiments were from 100 to over 500 strong, and had
in their ranks men of various creeds : Pathans, Dogras, Rajputs,

Sikhs, etc.

Larger regiments were divided into Risalas (troops) and their
strength varied from 150 to 200. The officer set-up was as for the
infantry. Naturally, cavalry was paid more than infantry.

The strength of this force at various times of the Sikh rule was
as under ;

Sambat A.D. year

Strength

Monthly Salary in rupees

1876 (1819 A.D.)

' 750

11,723

1880 (1823 A.D.)

1,656

41,609

1885 (1828 A.D.)

4,345

1,03,970

1890 (1833 A.D.)

3,914

86,544

1895 (1838 A.D.)

4,090

90,375

1900 (1843 A.D.)

5,381

1,61,660

1902 (1845 A.D.)

6,235

1,95,925

Ghorchara Fauj

This force was mainly composed of the small forces taken away
from the various small cheiftains who had been subdued. For example,
the forces of the Ramgarhia Misl and those of Sardar Milkha

Singh Thehpuria of Rawalpindi, when taken over, were grouped into
two big divisions called Derah Ramgarhia and the Derah Pindiwala
respectively. The troops of the Nakkai and Kanhaiya Misls also met
a similar fate, and were placed under Prince Kharak Singh and
Prince Sher Singh respectively. (Incidentally the mothers of these
Princes came from the respective Misls)

4. Journal, of a March from Delhi to Peshawar, pp. 214-15.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Organisation

Ghorcharas had little or no organisation, discipline or training
of the regular cavalry. It was neither organised into regiments, nor
was it placed under any chief command. They had their own derahs,
each one of which was independent of the other. Each derah was
commanded by a commander of an unspecified rank, assisted by one
subordinate officer. In addition, each derah had :

(a) A Vakil (munshi)

(b) An Accountant (mutsaddi)

(d) A Chief drummer (dhaunsa nawaz)

(e) A Granthi.

Each derah was divided into small groups (known as misls)
composed of "members of the same clan or of those who were other-
wise more or less closely related to each other.” Such groups were
commanded by the heads of the respective clans, or -by a daring
member of the clan. There was no fixed strength or uniform of these
small groups. Ghorcharas were armed with swords, spears and
muskets.

In 1822, smaller derahs were grouped into larger divisions to
facilitate administration and general control. These divisions were
later commanded by such personalities as Sardar Lehna Singh Majithia,
Sandhawalia Sardars, Attariwala Sardars, MisrDiwan Chand, Jamadar
Khushal Singh, with the Maharaja himself being the supreme.
Whatever may be the reasons for adopting such an organisation,
it nevertheless lacked the principle of co-operation and the economy
of effort which, consequently, leads to lack of concentration of a
force when required.

It seems to have been a multi racial organisation, because almost
every military class of' the Panjab was represented in this force.
There were the Jat Sikhs, the Hindu Rajputs from Jammu and Kangra,
Muslim Rajputs from the area now covered by the districts of
Sargodha and Jehlam, and from Gujar Khan in Pakistan the latter
provided the largest number for this force. There was also a
sprinkling of Pathans, Khatris and Datta Brahmins.

This force was divided into the following two divisions :

(a) Ghorchara Khas

Consisted of only one regiment comprised of nobility.

(b) Misldar Sowars

As already stated above, it belonged to the various chieftains,
who, having been beaten, owed allegiance to the Maharaja.

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

Pay and Strength

They were paid by the state government. To start with they were
paid in the shape of jagirs valueing from Rs. 400 to 600 a year. This
practice was replaced by cash payments as under :

(a) A trooper getting Rs. 253.00 to Rs 300.00 a year.

(b) A sowar received Rs. 22 to 26 per month.

The trooper was required to provide himself with his own
horse and equipment. In case he was unable to do this when entering
the service, he was provided with the necessary equipment on Govern-
ment expense, made good by the trooper by easy instalments. The
usual deductions for the various items were as under :

(a) For the horse Rs. 100.00

(b) For the matchlock Rs. 16.00 to Rs. 20.00

A precondition was that the horse must be strong and well fed.
A lean horse was not accepted for service. The trooper had either to
procure a good new horse, or pay Rs. 10.00 per month for the lean
one until the animal became fit for service. In the case of an horse's
death the trooper drew a foot soldier’s pay till he provided him-
self with a fresh horse. ,

The strength and their annual cost at various times was as
under :

Year

Strength

Annual salary

1870

(1813 A.D.)

374

Rs.

1,65,117

1874

(1817 A D.)

2,464

Rs.

2,78.318

1876

(1819 A.D.)

3,577

Rs.

11,13,782

1880

(1823 A.D.)

7,300

Rs.

22,45,000

1885

(1828 A.D.)

7,200

Rs.

21,94,000

1895

(1838 A.D.)

10,795

Rs.

31,68,714

1900

(1843 A.D.)

14,384

Rs.

44,18,840

1902

(1845 A.D.)

19,100

Rs.

58,27,597

Rurnes estimated the Ghorchara strength at 50,000. He further
writes ;

"A regular muster of these forces is exacted, with a few favoured
exceptions and as a native soldiery, they are an efficient, well
mounted, and serviceable body. Their superiority is said to
insist in being easily rallied while their neighbours, the Afghans,

APRIL 1992

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

Terminate a battle with the first discomfiture. 5 6

Baron Hugel, an Austrian traveller, writes about the Ghorcharas
in these words : _

“T requested leave to inspect them, and never beheld a finer nor
a more remarkably striking body of men. Each one was dressed
differently, and yet so much in the same fashion, that they all looked
in perfect keeping.”

“The handsome Raja Suchet Singh was in similar costume, and
reminded me of the time when the fate of empires hung on the
point of a lance, and when the individual whose bold heart beat
fearlessly under his steel breastplate, was the sole founder of his
fortunes. The strange troop before me was most peculiarly Indian.
The uniform consisted of a velvet coat or gaberdine, over which
most of them wore a shirt of mail. Others had this shirt made to
form a part of the tunic. A belt round the waist, richly embroidered
in gold, supported the powder-horn, covered with cloth of gold, as
well as the Persian katar and the pistol which many of them carried
in addition to those weapons. Some wore a steel helmet, inlaid with
gold, and surmounted with kalga or black heron’s plume, others
wore a cap of steel, worked like a cuirass in rings : this cap lies firmly
on the turban,' and covers the whole head, having openings for the
eyes. The left arm is often covered from the hand to the elhow with
a steel cuff inlaid with gold. The round Sikh shield hangs at the
back, fastened with straps across the chest, a quiver at the right
side and a bow slung at the hack being carried as part of the equip-
ment, a bag made in the belt holds the balls, and a tail bayonet,
frequently ornamented with gold, held in the right hand when the
man is on foot, and carried over the shoulder when in the saddle,
completes the dress.... It is a strange sight to a European to see their
slippers embroidered in gold covering their naked feet. Few among
them wear high jack boots.” 8

The Ghorcharas forming the bodyguard of the Maharaja were
always “splendidly dressed in chain armour and thick quilted
jackets made of rich silk, of all the colours of the rainbow.” 7
Looking at Ranjit Singh's Ghorcharas lined up far two and a half
miles at Amritsar on 10th December 1838 which he thought his
bodyguard, Emily Eden wrote :

“The sun was up and shining then, and I suppose there was

5. Alexander Burnes, Travels in to Bokhara, p. 289.

6. Hugel, Travels in Cashmir and the Panjab (Translated by Maj T. B. Jervis,

1845), pp- 330-31.

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

not one who would not have made the fortune of a painter.
One troop was dressed entirely in yellow satin, with gold
scarfs and showls; but the other half were in that cloth of gold
which is called kimcob— the fond being gold and the pattern
scarlet, or purple, or yellow; their arms were all gold — many of
them had collars of precious stones, their sheilds - and lances
were all studded with gold. They have long heards down to their
waists, and most of them had a silver or gold tissue rapery,
which they bring over their heads and pass round their beards
to keep them from the dust.” 8

Charyari

This was the largest group of Ghorcharas, and was known as
Charyari Rasala on account of the four handsome jawans it had were
great friends lived together. They were, S. Bhup Singh, S. Chet
Singh, S. Ram Singh and S. Hardas Singh Bania; and Maharaja Ranjit
Singh liked them very much.

They were cantoned at Nao Lakha (Lahore) and were about
4,192 in 1845 A.D. 9

Kavi Ganesh Das has mentioned in his chhands, the valour of
Hardas Singh, in a few battles. 10

Jagirdari Cavalry

This was the force maintained by landlords, Jagirdars or fief-
holders as the name implies. Lepel Griffin has described this element
in these words :

“These were the picturesque element in the Maharaja’s reviews.
Many of the men were well-to-do country ; gentlemen, the sons,
relations, or clansmen of the chiefs who placed them in the
field and maintained them there, and whose personal credit was
concerned in their splendid appearance. There was no uniformity
in their dress. Some wore a shirt of mail, with a helmet inlaid
with gold and a kalgi or heron's plume; others wore gay with
the many coloured splendours of velvet and silk, with pink
or yellow muslin turbans, and gold embroidered belts carrying
their sword and powder horn. All wore, at the back, the small
round shield of tough buffalo hide. These magnificent horse-
men were armed some with bows and arrows, but the majority
with match locks, with which they made excellent practice.” 11

7. Osborne, The Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh, p. 25.

8. Emily Eden, Up the Country, Vol. II, p. 4.

9. Khalsa Darbar Records, Vol. I, p. 114.

10. Fateh Nama Guru Khalsa, pp. 217 and 224.

11. Lepel Griffin, Ranjit Singh, pp. 143-44.

V0L. XXVI-1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

This system bound a fief-holder to supply a certain number of
efficient and well equipped troopers whenever required by the State.
The strength required to be maintained by each jagirdar for this
purpose depended upon the value of his jagir. They were, also, re-
quired to present themselves with their troops for review on Dussehra
festival when -a general parade of the entire army was held either at
Amritsar or at Lahore, and the National Flag of saffron colour was
hoisted. The descriptive-rolls of the troopers of each jagirdars were
deposited in the State’s Record Office.

It was obligatory for everyone from the highest ranking officer
to the lowest rank to be present at these parades. A strict check
was carried out and the absentees were punished. Serious notice was
also taken of the discrepancies, if any, found in these descriptive
rolls. Through these checks the Maharaja kept a control “over the
retainers of his chiefs as well as their steeds.”

Non-fulfilment of the conditions was punished. Even a Sardar
like General Hari Singh Nalwa was not spared. It is stated that the
Sardar had once failed to maintain the stipulated number of men,
for which he was fined a sum of Rupees two lakhs . 12 Such measures
were an effective check against corruption by the jagirdars. The
compliance with these conditions was a prerequist for the renewal or
enhancement of jagirs.

As regards the strength of this force it has not possible to
accurately determine, which, due to the varying types of controls and
small groups, is a very difficult problem.

Maharaja’s Love for Horses

The Maharaja had a great love for horses. He used to purchase
horses worth about Rupees twenty-five thousand every year. There were
about a thousand horses reserved for the personal use of the Maharaja.
A number of these were through bred Arab horses, and some were
of Persian breed. His most favourites were : Gauhor bar, Sufaid
pari and Laili. Baron Charles Hugel, an Austrian traveller gives us
the following account of the Maharaja’s horses :

“But what particularly attracted me, was the sight of the
Maharaja’s favourite horses, drawn up between the tents and
the troops, twentyfive or thirty in number. The breed in the
Panjab is very peculiar, and not unlike that of Spain, but with
straighter noses. The animals are large, and their movements
are very gentle; they may be trained to execute the most graceful

12. Sohan Lai, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, da/tar II, p, 379.

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH

curvettings, and the Sikhs value them according to their profici-
ency in their movements.” 13 As to the appearance of these
horses he notes that “these animals present a beautiful appear-
ance, with their small bones, flowing mane and tail, and their
proud and fiery action and lofty heads. The bridle, saddle and
other ornaments of these creatures are most costly. The first
is overlaid with gold or enamel, and at the top of the head, or
else on either side, waves a plume of heron’s feathers: strings of
jewels are hung round the neck under which are the Sulimans or
Onyx stones. The saddle is also of enemel or gold, covered
with precious stones, the pommal being particularly rich. The
housings are of Kashmiri Shawls, fringed with gold; the crupper
and martingale ornamented very highly and on each s'ide of the
favourite hangs the tail of the Tibetan yak, dyed of various
hues.” 14

Another characteristic description of the same subject is given
by Honourable Miss Emily Eden in these words :

“The jewelled trappings of the Horses were of the most costly
description, the jewels being chiefly emeralds of immense size
and value hanging round the neck, covering the forehead, and
fastened on the front of the saddle. The jewels and ornaments
were said to have been worth above £ 3,00,000. The Maharaja
. was passionately fond of horses and he would make war on a
Province to procure the surrender of any which were reputed of
peculiarly pure breed. 15 He kept them, highly fed, in large
numbers, and was almost in the daily habit of inspecting them;
adorning them on occasions of particular display, with the finest
jewels of his Treasury, including the celebrated large diamond,
called Koh-i-Noor or Mountain of Light.” 18

Training

General Allard, who joined the service of Ranjit Singh in 1822,

was given the task of re-organising and training the Maharaja’s

13. Huegel. op.cit., p. 301.

14. Ibid., pp. 301-02.

15. This statement is incorrect. Even for the procurement of Laili, there is a
riaisconception that the Maharaja had to launch a number of expeditions for
this animal which cost him Rs. 60,000 and about 12,000 soldiers. Faqir Syed
Waheeduddin’s book The Real Ranjit Singh is based on his family archieves,
hence it can be taken as authentic. In it, the Faqir states that no operations
were ever launched specifically for the procurement of any hosse.

16. Miss Eden, Pertrates of the Princes and People of India (1844), p. 14.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

cavalry on modern western lines. For this purpose, he brought with
him a pamphlet from his homeland : France.

Ghorcharas

The Ghorcharas did not like these new methods of training
which they referred to as “the tricks of a dancing girl,” and strongly
protested against the new methods. So, the Maharaja had to resort
to new recruitment for this purpose. The tactics employed by
Ghorcharas, who were pastmasters in riding, were to over-power
their foe with a cavalry charge launched with dash and reckless
courage. “When the horse is in motion,” writes Steinbach, “the
legs and arms of the rider wave backwards and forwards, right and
left, by way, as it Were, of keeping time the pace of the animal
best ridden.” 17 These were composed of “fine body of intrepid and
resourceful horsemen,” and played conspicuous part in the conquest
of Jammu, Kangra, Multan and Kashmir. During the Sikh wars,
the Ghorcharas played a significant part and were able to harass the
enemy considerably. :

Regular cavalry

Lieutenant Barr, who had the opportunity of witnessing a review
of the Lahore cavalry at Peshwar on 1st April 1839, writes :

“The effect of the sun glistening on the cuirassier’s casques and
breast plates as they were advancing was extremely pretty; and
the regularity and order in which they walked by, could scarcely
be exceeded by the Company’s cavalry.” 19

And “in the field the conduct of the Sikh cavalry has generally
corresponded with their appearance and efficiency.” 19

The Maharaja’s cavalry could move faster than the Mughal or
Maratha cavalry.

But, the common impression of all onlookers had been that the
standard of Lahore cavalry, as compared to its infantry or artillery,
was low. Here is what Obsorne, who had an opportunity to see two
squadrons of General Allard’s cavalry on 24th June 1838, noted in
his diary that day :

“I was much disappointed in their appearance. They do not
look to advantage by the side of their infantry. They are men of
all ages, ill-looking, ill-dressed, and worse mounted; neither

17. Steinbach, The Panjaub, p. 65.

18. Journal, p. 247.

19. Steinbach, op. cit., p. 65.

CAVALRY OF MAHARAJA RANJ1T SINGH

in appearance nor in reality are they to be compared to the infantry
soldiers of the Panjab .” 40

The main reason for this low standard of cavalry has been
assigned to the Maharaja’s indifference towards this arm. As regards
recruitment, Osborne observed :

“Ranjit Singh personally inspects every recruit for his infantry,
whilst the cavalry is generally recruited from the followers of the
different Sardars, and most of them owe their appointments to
favour and interest, more than to their fitness and capability .” 21

The same observer writing from the financial point of view
says :

“The raising of the regular cavalry was entrusted to General
Allard, a French Officer; but from all I can hear his intentions
have been so thwarted, and his means so limited, by the parsi-
mony of the Maharaja, that the same success has not attended
his efforts with the cavalry which Ganeral Ventura appears to
have met with the infantry .” 22

20. Osborne, op. cit., p. 61.

21. Ibid., pp. 61-62.

22. Ibid., p. 60.

Superstitions during the Kingdom
of Lahore

Mrs Surinder Kaur*

Superstition is an idea, practice etc. founded on belief in magic,
with crafts, amulets, and so on. During the times of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh, superstitions of divergent hues prevailed in all ranks
of society, from the ruler to the ruled. These were so inextricably
woven round the people that their presence was visible from cradle
to one’s grave. The social ceremonies, pilgrimage or an army
expedition was preceded by consultations with a pandit who predicted
the auspicious moments for commencing an undertaking. In fact,
superstitions were a queer amalgam of omens, ill-omens, charms
amulets, propitious and unpropitious moments.

Omens and Ill-omens

Sneezing while going out or while starting a journey was consid-
ered a bad sign and in the event of failure in the mission, it was
attributed to sneezing . 1

Certain birds were also considered harbinger of either luck or
misfortune. Partridge was considered lucky bird as it warded off the
evil eye. To hear a partridge’s call on one’s right while entering a
town or village, was a bad omen, and a good omen if heard on
the left side . 2 An owl signified desolation, and was despised , 3 so
was keel. Passing of crow and black buck from left to right on one’s
way was a good omen . 4 The crowing of a crow on the roof implied
the arrival of a guest.

Animals and Lower Animals

Cows and buffalos were also associated with good and bad signs.
Looking into cow’s face immediately after rising from the bed, was

*Postgraduate Dept, of History, G.N. College for Women, Banga.

1. R.C. Temple, Legends of ihe Punjab , I, Bombay, 1884, p. 101.

2. H.T. Prinsep, Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and Political Life oj
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1834, rpt. Patiala, 1977, p. 193.

3. Denzil Ibbetson, Punjab Castes, 1916, Patiala, 1970, p. 118.

4. Ibbetson, op. cit.. p. 118.

SUPERSTITIONS DURING THE KINGDOM OF LAHORE

a good omen. To avoid the calving cow from drying up before the
usual period, its first milk was offered to a Brahmin. To feed a cow
was considered a meritorious act. And to let a cow die with rope
round its neck was a sin which had to be atoned by giving offerings
to the Brahmin to the value of the dead and also by undertaking a
pilgrimage to the Ganga to wash off the sin . 6 If a man, while start-
ing a journey, saw someone riding a buffalo, he returned as it was a
bad omen. To hear a female jackal howling and a dog groaning
in the night was a bad omen.* If in the morning a man saw a dog
shaking its ears, it was looked upon as an evil sign and meant ill
luck would befall him before night . 7 Seeing a dog while starting
the journey also signified something amiss and the person would
beat a hasty retreat.

If one countenanced a snake slithering from right to left, it was
a good omen for going ahead with journey . 8 If the shadew of a
pregnant woman fell on the snake it became instantly blind . 9 To hear
a jackass braying while entering a town, a Hindu’s mare foaling
during day time, cows, buffalos and horses getting on the roof of
the house were considered bad omens . 10

To feed ants daily with flour and sugar or til (sesame) and chawal
(rice) was an act of great merit. So was the feeding of fish with
pills of flour. Watering a pipal tree was considered propitious for
abundance of wealth and other bounties.

Units of Time

A cow calving in Bhadon (August-September), a buffalo in Magh
(January-February) and a mare foaling in Sawan (July-August) were
considered unlucky. Their off-spring if not sold to a Muslim was
given by way of charity to a Brahmin } 1 Ploughing in Jeth (May-
June) was deemed unlucky, so was the birth of a child in Kartik
(October-November). The Hindus in hills never performed marriages
in Poh (December-Januarv), Chet (March-April), Bhadon (August-
September) and Asoj (September-October). The Muslims never
solemnised marriages and undertook no work of importance in the
month of Muharram and Ramzan.

5. R.C. Temple, op. cit.. I, p. 131.

6. Ibid., p. 3.

7. H.T. Prinsep, op . cit., p. 193.

8. R.G. Temple, I, op, cit., p. 89.

9. Ibbetson, op. cit., p. 118.

10. Hoshiarpur District Gazetteer, 1883-84, p. 48; Hoshiar pur District Settlemeut
Report, 1879-84, p. 36.

11. Jullundur District Gazetteer, 1904, p. 131.

VOL. XXVI-I

APRIL 1992

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

Not only months, there were certain taboo days for the people.
Both the Hindus and Muslims refrained from buying or selling cattle,
ghi and leather etc. on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays. A cattle
dying on any of these unlucky days was buried, not given to the
menials. Lending and borrowing of money was forbidden, and
shaving on these days led to the death of self or a son. 13 A sugar-
press was always started on Sunday as well as dug on the same day.
Ploughing or sowing was begun on Wednesday and never on Mondays
or Saturdays, reaping always commenced on Tuesday. The first and
eleventh day of any month was inauspicious for sowing or ploughing.

Superstitious beliefs were evident in the birth of infants. If a boy
was born, a net was hung over the doorway, a charm stuck over the
wall and a fire lighted in the threshold and kept burning day and night
to ward off the evil spirits. On the night of the sixth day the whole
household sat up and watched over the child, for on that day his
destiny was determined, especially as to immunity from small-pox.
These precautions were 4 however, conspicuous by their absence in
case of birth of a daughter. 13 A son born after three girls in succession
was not supposed to live long, but this was not the case with the girl
born after three sons. 14

People were so steeped in credulity that even diseases were viewed
as visitations for their sins in previous life. Instead of seeking the help
of apothecaries, the people sought relief in mantras and prayers. In
1827 when cholera was rampant in Lahore and Amritsar, a considerable
amount of money was spent by Maharaja Ranjit Singh among the poor
and Brahmins of these two cities to drive away the disease. 16 Again in
June 1839 when the Maharaja fell ill. Pandit Madhusudan was
ordered to engage fifty Brahmins at Rs. 2/- per head per day to pray
for the recovery . of the Maharaja. Hakim Naru-ud-Din distributed
ten maunds of bread among the poor beggars everyday until the reco-
very of the Maharaja. 16

Superstitions in the hills had their worst play. If a person of rank
and power fell ill and his disease did not yield to medicine, search was
made for an old woman with feet turned inwards. She was accused of
being a witch or dain, the cause of the trouble. Either her no selvas

12. Ibbetson, op. cit., p. 119.

13. Ibid., p. 118.

14. Loc. cit.,

15. Jam-i-Jahan Numa, Calcutta, 5 and 12 September, 1827.

16. Panjab Akhbar, 4 June, 1839, p. 174.

SUPERSTITIONS DURING THE KINGDOM OF LAHORE

chopped off or she was branded on the forehead with a red-hot copper
coin or sometime she was put to death . 17

Amulets called tawiz were worn by the superstitious people either
round the neck or on arms to get rid of the disease they were afflicted
with. In Bannu district every individual wore about a dozen amulets
round his neck and arms . 18

Planetary Influence

The credulous people were also afflicted by the movement of
benign and malignant stars. A child born under an inauspicious star
was regarded unlucy. Marriages and other ceremonies were performed
after consulations with the astrologers.

The dumdar tara or a tailed star was dreaded of all. It portended
epidemic or famine. On the appearance of the comet subscriptions
were raised and the Brahmins and mendicants fed. Vigne records the
loss he suffered after seeing dumdar tara } 9
Other Occult Practices

Especially in hills people firmly believed in magic or jadu. It was
of two types, white and black. The white magic was used to promote
the interests of the community, for instance in rain-making or warding
off epidemic. Black magic was an offence against the community . 20

Mesmerism was also practiced to discover the cause of certain
troubles or ailments. A specific kalma wes read as the person got into
a mesmeric state and started talking incoherently. The person was then
questioned on the particular problem regarding which the information
was required and he gave replies accordingly . 21

As mentioned in the preceding pages, the illiterate people particu-
larly in hills had firm faith in witches, commonly known as dains who,
they thought, envied the prosperity of her neighbours, mostly the
possession of male heir. It was the belief of the people that she could
cause the death of a human being or cattle by magically eating their
iivers, blast the crops, bring disease, stop milk of milch cattle and that
she could destroy the efficiency of religious rites . 22 In order to put
w'itches Jo a test, it was customary among the hill people to take them

17. G.T. Vigne, Travels in Kashmir and Ladakh, Vol. I, London, 1842, p. 197.

18. National Archives of India : Foreign Dept. Secret Consultations, 29 May, 1847,
Nos. 128-32.

19. G.T. Vigne, op. cit., p. 391.

20. W. Crooke, Natives of Northern India, London, 1907, p. 248.

21. Mianwali District Gazetteer, 1915, p. 81.

22. W. Moorcroft and G. Trebeck, Travels in the Himalayan Provinces from 1819-
•25, 1837, rpt. Punjab Languages Department, Patiala, 1970, p. 124.

VOL . XXVI- 1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

to the two lakes, one. called Debel Devi and the other known as Vishnu
Devi, where after tying millstones round their necks they were thrown
in water. In the event of drowning they' were accounted impostors.
If they swam, their elaim to with craft was confirmed. 23

Such was the stuff the subjects of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were
made of. The Maharaja and his successors were equally superstitious
and believed in omens, auspicious and inauspicious moments, consulted
astrologers before embarking on an important undertaking. In 1815
the Maharaja chose Basant Panchami for his departure to Amritsar
only after consulting his astrologer. 24 Again in 1831 the Maharaja
consulted the astrologers before meeting Lord William Bentick at
Rcpar and adopted a strategy suggested by them. 25 In 1833 when the
Maharaja fell ill, some people brought amulets to be worn by him. 26
Another practice usually resorted to by the Maharaja, before starting
upon an important undertaking, was to order two slips of paper to be
placed before the holy Granth. On one slip was written the object
of his wish, while the other had the reverse of its written on it. A
little boy or a granthi took out one of the slips without looking at it.
If it was the one having the object of his wish, the Maharaja exuded
confidence before launching the action, otherwise the proposed action
was abandoned. 26 The Maharaja once put two slips before the holy
Granth in order to ascertain whether he should bathe with warm
water or cold water. The slip with the inscription of ‘cold water’
came out, and the Maharaja acted accordingly. 27

In 1843 one of the wives of Maharaja Sher Singh gave'birth to a
son. The Maharaja consulted Pandit Madhusudan regarding fortune
of the boy. It was predicted that the child was born under an
inauspicious star and would bring ruin to the family. The prediction
turned out to be true as Maharaja Sher Singh and his son Pratab
Singh were killed by the Sandhawalia chiefs, and his widow became a
sati. In 1847 Sardar Lehna Singh introduced a pandit from Banaras to
Maharani Jindan who asked him about the f uture of Maharaja Dalip
Singh and her brother. The answers being favourable, Maharani
Jindan presented Rs. 2,000/- and a khilat to the pandit. 28

23. N.A.I. : Foreign Dept. Misc. Volume, pp. 206, 213.

24. Diwan Amar Nath, Zafarnama-i-Ranjit Singh, ed. S.R. Kohli, Lahore, 1928,
pp., 207-08.

25 . Ibid, p. 224.

26. Ali-ud-din, lbratnama, 1854, pp. 422, 722.

27. S.L. Suri, Umdat-ut-Twarikk, Daftar III, Part I (ed. V.S. Suri), 1885, rpt. New
Delhi, 1962, p. 502.

. 28. N.A.L and Foreign Dept. Secret Consultations, 26 June, 1847, Nos. 170-74,

Popular Reaction to the Occupation of
Punjab Hill States by The English East India
Company : A Study of the Ballads Regarding
the Exploits of Ram Singh Pathania

Rauasbir Singh*

The life and exploits of Ram Singh Pathania (1828-1858), the
son of Shiam Singh, Wazir of Raja Bir Singh (1789-1846) of Nurpur,
generated a rich literature in the Kangri and Dogri languages. 1 This
literature delineates the reaction of the common people against the
British occupation of the hill states. After the first Anglo r Sikh War of
1845-46, the English East India Company occupied the Bist Jalandhar
Doab and the hill states of the Kangra Circle. In the second Anglo-
Sikh War of 1848-49, the hill states like Kangra, Jaswan, Datarpur
and Nurpur revolted against the Company’s rule. 2

Ram Singh Pathania rose in rebellion in August 1848, and occup-
ied the fort of Shahpur Kandi. He declared Jaswant Singh, the minor
son of the Late Raja Bir Singh, to be the king of Nurpur and became
his wazir. G. C. Barnes, the settlement officer of Kangra, attacked
Shahpur and compelled Ram Singh to vacate the fort. Ram Singh
retired into the hills of Nurpur, but he had to face another defeat. In
January 1849, he was able to get support from the Sikh army. He met
the British forces at Dalle di Dhar under Brigadier General Wheeler.
A fierce battle ensued which resulted in the death of Lieutenant J. Peel
and Cornot Christie. Ram Singh was defeated and arrested. He was
deported to Singapore where he died in 1858. 3

There are six folk ballads on the revolt of Ram Singh Pathania,
popular in the Kangra-Jammu hill tract. J. F. Mitchell and

*Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

1. Chakardhari Shastri, “Shahid Wazir Ram Singh Pathania”, Shiraja, J & K
Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Jammu, Vol 21 (1984), p.p. 46-48.

2. Hutchison & Vogel, History of the Pan jab Hill States, Dept, of Languages and
Culture, Himachal Pradesh, Simla, 1982 (reprint), Vol. I, pp. ; 87-88.

3. Ibid., p. 266.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

T. Grahame Bailey published a ballad entitled “The Ballad of Ram
Singh’s Two Rebellions” in 1920. 4 In fact the published ballad cons-
ists of two vary which treat the same subject in a different manner. /

M. S. Randhawa has reproduced these two ballads as one in a
Gurmukhi version. 6 Randhawa’s book also contains two other
ballads. 6 Two more ballads are recorded by Chakardhari Shashtri of
Jammu, which appeared in the Shiraja in Dogri. 7

According to the first ballad. Ram Singh, son of Shiama (Shiam
Singh) was an aviar. In order to save the honour of the Rajputs, he
fought splendidly againsr the East India Company. A parwana was
sent to him by the company ordering him not to fight against the
English. Ram Singh did not listen to their dictation and sent the
reply that he would fight against them. The ballad states that he had
to fight all alone. The English army included troops from Calcutta. ,

Ram Singh came up by the way of Basa (south-east of Juch), while
the English advanced from Suriali (8 miles north of Juch). The first
battle was fought at Juch. Ram Singh fought well but he was
defeated.

The East India Company again threatened him but he stuck to
his determination. He sought help from his maternal uncles Jawahar
Singh and Bahadur Singh, and from the Kotwal named Das (of Dhar
Bhol Taluqa in the south-west of Juch), Dhian/Jarial and Amar Singh
Minhas. He fought well but was captured as the result of betrayal
by a Brahmin.

The second ballad expresses the determination of Ram Singh, an /

avtar, to fight against the English. On his request. Das Kotwal from
Bhol, Jangi Padhwal and Tara Singh Sahib came forward to help
him whereas Nahangi Dhanotia refused to support him. Amar Singh
Minhas not only extended help but also destroyed four regiments of
the British. The ballad says that Ram Singh moved his camp to
Nagabari, 4 miles west of Juch. He then moved to Shahpur and
plundered the city. Interestingly, the ballad refers to. Malmal
and Chandi who attacked Ram Singh. According to Mitchell
and Bailey, they represent Lt. John Peel and C. Christie,
respectively. 8 In the fight, Malmal was wounded and Chandi was

^ . ' {

4. Journal of Punjab Historical Society, Lahore, 1982, pp. 206-12.

5. M.S. Randhawa, Kangra : Kala, Lok Te Geet, New Delhi,' 1976, pp. 385-90.

6. 7 bid., pp. 390-95.

7. Chakardhari Shastri, op.cit., pp. 49-50.

8. “The Ballad of Ram Singh’s Two Rebellions,” The Panjab Past and Present ,

Punjabi University, Patiala, Vol. 5, Part I ("April 1971), p. 77.

POPULAR REACTION TO THE OCCUPATION OF PUNJAB

killed. The East India Company threatened Ram Singh that if he did
not desist from fighting his home would be auctioned. On his
refusal, he was attacked. A reward of two thousand rupees was fixed
for Ram Singh’s capture. A Brahmin betrayed him; consequently he
was captured. He was brought to Nurpur and his father was
informed of his caputre.

The third ballad also considers Ram Singh as an avtar who fought
against the English. It states that Ram Singh’s mother Indori forbade
him to fight against the English but he stuck to his aim. He did not
care for his beautiful wives. He sought help from his brotherhood.
Bahadur Singh, his maternal uncle, was asked to save Nurpur from
the clutches of the Company. In the first battle, he captured Basa and
then, Thora da fal. He was attacked by Barnes Sahib (G.C. Barnes,
the settlement officer of Kangra). Kangra and Shahpur were offered
to him, but he did not accept. Then, a great battle ensued in which
Ram Singh fought valiantly.

^ The fourth ballad refers to the battles of Ram Singh when he
camped in the forest of Bini. He sent parwanas to the kings of
Kangra, Nadaun, Dada and Guler in order to seek their help, but in
vain. Ram Singh had to fight all alone against the English. The
ballad also refers to the attack by Barnes Sahib and the offer of the
jagir of Kangra and Shahpur, Which Ram Singh refused to accept.
It also mentions the putting up of the camp by Ram Singh at Basa
and Thoru and then at Naga Bari. According to the ballad he looted
the post of Mamuna, set Datar Runiar on fire and encamped at
Dhariari. Fina Singh and Suchet Singh refused to help him and he
fought alone against the enemy.

There are two short ballads which carry almost the same events.
According to these, Ram Singh, son of Shiama, was an avtar who
fought alone against the English. He is said to have killed four of
the platoons. He was not helped by the king.

Before compilation, the vars were in oral tradition. They remained
preserved in the memory of the people for generations. Though the
period of their composition is not known, yet it may be guessed on
the basis of internal evidence. The ballads indicate that the folk
mind had recognised the English sovereignty. No doubt, the bravery
of Ram Singh is eulogized but the might of the English is also
acknowledged. The English can put the house of Ram Singh on
auction. They can even put him into a cage. Ram Singh is appre-
ciated much for his strong determination and bravery, but he is
regarded as a rebel. So it may be presumed that these ballads were

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

composed at a period when the British rule was fully established. At
the same time, all the ballads refer to the Company. It may be
deduced that these ballads came into currency before 1858, or only a
little later.

In the ballads. Ram Singh is concieved as a hero with a strong
determination. His mother’s advice and his love for his beautiful
wives do not change his mind. His greatness, according to these
ballads, lies in his selfless dedication. The'offer of Shahpur and Kangra
does not bear fruit. Even threats could not stop him from fulfilling
his aim. He is said to have fought all alone against the English.
Though he sought help from the other states, yet nobody dared to
give him a helping hand. Interestingly, a duel between Ram Singh
and a British military officer is also shown to have taken place in
which he killed one of the officers and injured the other. Ram Singh
is depicted as a hero who struggled individually. This determination
to continue struggle against the established English rule elevates him
to the level of an avtar.

The ballads do not dwell on the defeat of Ram Singh. His
failure is shown as the result of deception by a Brahmin. It was his
misfortune. These are medieval modes of reconciliation with defeat.

The tone of the ballads also suggests that the English rule
dominated the mind of the people. There is also the suggestion that
in the popular mind there was an appreciation for the dominant
British. A contemporary ballad called Dekho Tamasha Barane Da
appreciated the peaceful administration of the English. It is also
stated that during the English rule jagirs were freely given to kings
and the other people. 9

Ram Singh is appreciated for his bravery, selflessness and resolute
determination, without any reference to his purpose of installing
Jaswant Singh at Nurpur with himself as the wazir. While most of
the chiefs quietly resigned to British supremacy and control, only a
few individuals resisted. 10 Even the ballads do not portray the man
like Ram Singh as having been inspired by patriotism, local or
regional.

The ambivalence of the ballads is significant. The people loved
their hero, but they also mutely accepted the better administration
of the British.

9. M.S. Randhawa, op. cit., pp. 408-09; Journal of Panjab Historical Society ,

pp. 215-16.

10. Hutchison and Vogel, History of the Panjab Hill States, Lahore, 1993,

pp. 207, 211.

Notes on the Anjuman-i-Punjab, Aligarh
Movement, Brahmo Samaj, Indian
# Association, Arya Samaj and Singh Sabha
in the Context of Colonial Education in
the Punjab, 1865-1885

Nazer Singh*

Anjuman-i-Isha ’at-Alumi-i-Mufida, Punjab popularly called the
Anjuman-i-Punjab was formed by G.W. Leitner, the newly appointed
Principal of the Government College, Lahore, in January 1865. 1 It
was to be an educational and literary society. However, under the
Presidentship of Leitner, it acquired a character embracing a variety
of roles in the public life of not only the city of Lahore but also that
of the entire region. It opened its branches in cities like Kasur,
Sialkot, Gujranwala, Hissar and Amritsar. The Anjuman had different
committees to look after its work in the different spheres. Its three
important committees were :

1 . The library committee whose two most important achieve-
ments were (a) the establishment of a public library in
Lahore, (b) the literary revival and the creation of Punjab

*Lecturer in History, Department of Correspondence Courses, Punjabi University,
Patiala.

In this paper the author has traced the genesis and growth of the so called
socio-religious movements to the educational policy of the British Empire in
India. In fact, it has been given to understand that the educational policy
of the British provided an organic unity to all these regionally and socially
diverse movements. As the title of the paper suggests, it is narrative in
the form of notes taken from the sources some of which have been rarely taped
for the perusal cf the researchers in the field. — G.S.N.

1. See, Nazer Singh, “Anjuman-i-Isha’t-i-’Alum-i-Mufida, Punjab : 1865-77,”
Proceedings Punjab History Conference (October 1982), pp. 135-41; and
“Anjuman-i-Isha’at-i-Alumi-i-Mufida, Punjab : 1877-87”, Proceedings Punjab
History Confernce (December, 1983), pp. 116-27.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

2 .

Book Depot to translate European works into Indian verna-
culars.

The educational committee whose single most achievement
was the establishment of Punjab University, and its Senate
which was practically a board of education for the Province
of Punjab.

The medical committee aimed at the popularization of indi- .
genous system of medicine. *

The Anjuman gave birth to two distinct but inter-dependent
movements, namely, (i) a literary movement for revival' and improve-
ment of ancient and classical studies by the traditional Indian scholars
trained in modern methods of criticism and imbibed in the spirit of
modern European civilization, and (ii) ‘Orient Movement’ aimed at
the establishment of an Oriental University; for a scheme of education
providing (a) encouragement to the vernaculars of India by making
them the medium of instruction for the European sciences; (b) creation
of modern literature in the vernaculars through the translation of
European and western works made under aegis of the University
functioning in close touch with the Anjuman, and (c) a more popular
indigenous character to the existing system of education (as practised
by the Calcutta University) through the association of natural leaders
(the chiefs, the leading zamindars, the priests and the rich merchants
etc.) with the education department by giving them representation on
the management of educational institutions. It was to help in making
education ‘national.’ This was because, first, there would be Indian
participation in the educational enterprize; and secondly, the recogni-
tion of the worth of Indian languages, literature and the thought
enshrined in them, as well as the association of the scholarly classes
of India such as the Pandits and the Maulvies with the task of cultural
regeneration was to bridge the cultural-political gap not only between
the British rulers and the Indians but also between educated Indians
and their vast illiterate fellow-countrymen.

Soon, the Anjuman became popular with the Europeans, both
officials and non-officials, as well as the leading Panjabis. Under the
patronage of Donald McLeod, the Punjab Lieutenant-Governor, it
got the active support of officials like Aitchison and L. Griffin, Pandit
Manphool and Harsukh Rai. The latter two were the Extra-Assistant
Commissioners under the Government of Punjab. This official reco-
gnition gave the Anjuman a considerable significance in the eyes of
Punjab Chiefs who donated lavishly for its University scheme. By
1867-68, the Anjuman under the dynamic leadership of Leitner had

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

raised a fund of rupees 80,000. This led to the establishment of the
Panjab University College Lahore in 1869. This college was a Senate
responsible for the educational matters and needs of the region. G.W.
Leitner became the Registrar of the Senate comprised of the Europeans,
largely the officers of the Education Department, and of the aristocracy
including the Punjab Chiefs. He, being the chief architect of the
whole scheme, played a very significant role in influencing the Punjab
Government’s educational policy, particularly between 1867 and 1877.

On the literary side, the Anjuman started with a library of its
own which was to be located in the rooms of the Shikhsha Hall,
Lahore. Pandit Manphool and Munshi Harsukh Rai donated to the
library 500 and 700 books respectively. Pandit Radha Kishan was
made incharge of the Sanskrit section for the collection and preserva-
tion of manuscript literature in Sanskrit. Similarly an Arabic and
Persian section was provided with works in these two languages.
Leitner was himself a good scholar of Isalmic jurisprudence and
civilization. The studies in these three classical languages got a
further impetus in the year 1871-72 when the Anjuman brought out
two periodicals, one each in Arabic and Sanskrit. These monthlies
were named, Zamima Anjuman-i -Punjab, and Risala Anjuman-i-Punjab,
respectively.

For encouragement to poetry, the Anjuman had its distinct branch
called Anjuman-i- Mushaira. Its aim was to promote the composition
and translation of poems of higher character than has hither to been
favoured by Orientals. This new Urdu poetry was best represented by
Muhammed Hussain Azad and Altaff Hussain Hali. 2

The aims of the Anjuman-i-Punjab were not limited only to
educational and literary fields. The promotion of trade and industry
in the province was also one of the objects. ‘The Industrial Society,’
a branch of the Anjumn, dealt with the problems of adoption of new
techniques in Industry.

Moreover, the Anjuman provided a platform to all those who
were interested in public activities concerning different fields varying
from art and industry to politics. It became an instrument of organiz-

2. For more details, see Nazer Singh, Punjab Orientalism and “the Punjab Society :
1865-1901" (unpublished Ph.D. thesis H.P. University, Shimla, 1987), pp.
194-206.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

ing public opinion. It had a programme which included the
following : 8

The discussion of social, literary, and political questions of
interest; the popularization of beneficial government
measures; the development of a feeling of loyalty and of a
common state citizenship, and the submission to government
of practical proposals suggested by the wishes and wants of
the people.

The Anjuman’s two news organs played important role in this
regard. These were the Akhbar-i- Anjuman-i Punjab, an Urdu weekly;
and The Punjab University Intelligencer. The latter was the English
organ edited by Nobin Chandra Rai. It was not a regular organ but
was issued occasionally as a “Supplement” to the Akhbar-i- Anjuman-
i-Punjab.

Like the Anjuman-i-Punjab, the Lahore Oriential College was
the creation of G.W. Leitner. It began as a school in 1865 and was
named a College in the year 1872-73. It was run by the Punjab
University College or the Senate. In fact, ‘Oriental Movement’ led
by the Anjuman had failed to secure an Oriental University for the
Punjab. Instead of an Oriental University, Government of India
granted a ‘Provincial University’ to be established at Lahore. The
Punjab University College started in 1869 was the proto of this
University. However, the Punjab Government which had taken an
intensive interest in the making of the ‘Oriental movement’ continued
to support the Oriental College. But, it was the personality of G.W.
Leitner, who was the Registrar of the Punjab University College and
the President of the Anjnman-i-Punjab, which gave the Oriental
College an important place on the scheme of education made largely
by the Senate. The identification of the Oriental College with the
Punjab University College was completed towards the end of 1876
when Leitner became the Honrary Superintendent of the former.
Thus, the partial rejection of the underlying principles of the
‘Oriental movement’ by the establishment of the Punjab University
College could not be affected. Leitner’s Anjuman-i-Punjab became
the informal Manager of the educational complex consisting of
Oriental College, the Punjab University College and the Government
College, Lahore. All these three institutions had a common complex
in the Government College Lahore headed by G.W 4 Leitner.

3. Leitner’s Letter datet 21 Aug. 1886, see Proceedings Fore-Fro., A, April, 1887,
Nos. 16-46 (N.A.I.).

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

Leitner took two steps to restore the fastly falling public credi-
bility of the Oriental College. 4 First, he restricted the admission to
those whose parents were ‘hereditary maulvis and pandits’ The
standing of maulvis and pandits with the people was expected to add
to the prestige of the college. It is important to keep in mind that
the chief aim of the college was to produce new priests supposed to
be good teachers and reformers in the wider sense of word. The
step was to facilitate this process too.

Secondly, he started a 'Punjabi class’ in the college during
1877-78. There Punjabi was taught through Gurmukhi characters.
It was also a class where Guru Granth Sahib was taught. It was done
inspite of the opposition by the education authorities. However, this
opposition was soon got neutralized. Interestingly, the man who
performed this task was L.H. Griffin.

Significantly, the ‘Punjabi class’ was even officially called
‘Bhai class.’ During 1878-79, there were total 17 hoys in this class.
Out of them 9 were ‘sons of granthis, mahants and practizing pandits .’
The class was obviously created to fulfil the Singh Sabha demand
for the upliftment of Punjabi. It was maintained “for the purpose
of training Sikh priests.”

On April 12, 1879, on the occasion of the convocation of Punjab
University College, Lord Lytton, the Viceroy announced his
Government’s decision to raise the College to University. However,
his convocation address and also the remarks made by the Punjab
Lieutenant-Governor in his welcome address to him kicked off
a strong controversy over the nature of the new University. It was
because, there was already a lot of confusion over the means and ends
of the Punjab education. What would be the character of Panjab
University ? Would it be the same as the Calcutta University ?
Or would it be an Oriental University excluding the study of English
language and western sciences; while concentrating upon the Indian
classical studies ? What would be the medium of instruction ?
What was the Government’s intention in splitting the Calcutta
University ? What should be the nature of knowledge to be imparted
by the Panjab University ? The questions like these had been
disturbing the enlightened public opinion both in Delhi and Lahore
since 1877 when the Punjab Government had abolished Delhi College
and demanded the raising of Punjab University College to the

4. See Nazer Singh, Punjab Orientalism, op. cit., pp. 171-77.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

University. The remarks of both Lieutenant Governor and the
Viceroy confused them further. The repeated reference in their
speeches to Leitner as the maker of Panjab University caused
suspicion among many a leaders of the community . 5 6 For them the
establishment of a Panjab University was a part of Punjab Govern-
ment’s design to discourage English and higher education. This
design had manifested itself by the abolition of Delhi College,
Again, the Lieutenant Governor as well as Viceroy’s attempt to
make a distinction between the principles of the Punjab scheme of
education, and those upon which the University of Calcutta was
working , 6 was seen as isolating Punjab from Bengal with the aim of
depriving its people of the facilities for higher/English education
given by the Calcutta system. It was apprehended that under the
influence of Leitner Punjab Government wanted to continue his
anti higher/English education policy by spliting the University of
Calcutta . 7

The issue led to open divisions in the Anjuman-i-Punjab. One
faction supported Leitner and appreciated Lytton’s decision to
alleviate the Panjab University College to the University. The second
faction expressed doubts about the soundness of the decision.

5. In his welcome address, the Lieutenant Governor said, “Dr Leitner has
from the beginning actively supported and directed the movement of which
the Punjab University College is the result... . The Punjab University College
is the creation of the people of the Province. It is result of the desire of the
people of the Punjab for a living and a growing system of education in the
control and direction of which they may ha\e a share, which will blend with
the ancient learning of the country, and make use of its classical and vernacular
languages as medium of instruction.” Supplement to Civil and Military Gazette,
Lahore, 16th April, 1879.

6. Making a comparison between the Punjab University (College’) and the Calcutta
University, the Viceroy said, “The education it provides for the country is an
education practically directed not at changing or altering or replacing,
but to improving what is already best in the actual life and character of
the people of the country.” Referring to the two principles which
distinguish Punjab University College from the educational institutions in India,
Lytton said that the first was that education should be through the mother
tongue. The second wos “that the object of instruction shall be to develop the
sentiment of enlightened loyalty by associating with it all those sentiments of
natural reverence, duty and self-respect which every race inherited from the
highest types of its own special character, whatever that character may be; and of
which, for every student, there will alwoys exist in its own inherited religion,
whatever that religion may be; natural sources instinctively revered.”

Supplement to Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, 16th April, 1879.

7. See also, The Lahore Chronicle, January 16, 1867, p. 509.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

These divisions further weakened the Anjuman and doing so cleared
the way for the emergence of denominational bodies such as The
Aligarh Party, Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj and Singh Sabha as an
important factor in the public life of Lahore. G.W. Leitner was the
real catalyst for them all.

Sayyid Ahmed Khan's Aligarh Movement which originated with
the formation of Scientific Society at Ghazipur in July 1864, did not
share some of the fundamental ideas of Punjab education movement.
To understand this, it is important to keep in mind three things.
First, the idea of ‘Oriental’ education in respect to the use of verna-
culars as the medium of instruction owed its practice to the N.W.
Provinces and more specifically speaking to Delhi. The Vernacular
in this context was Urdu. Although Urdu had an important place
on the education scheme in the N.W. Provinces, and the development
of this language was a concern of the Muslim reformers, yet the
pre-Mutiny ‘Delhi Renaissance’ was not averse to English education
including the study of, and through, English language. The signi-
ficance of English language was on the increase as its knowledge
fetched Government jobs. Aware of its economic and political
importance, even the Muslim reformers like Aziz Ahmed were
not averse to its study by their followers. Sayyid Ahmed Khan
was even more appreciative of European knowledge and English
language.

Secondly, the educational and reform activities of Sayyid Ahmed
Khan were not taking place in isolation from Punjab. It wasb ecause
Delhi where he was active had been placed under the Punjab in 1859.
Its officials were aware of Sayyid Ahmed Khan’s programme. For
example Pandit Manphool, the Chief Munshi of Government of the
Punjab in Persian Department, was in touch with him while the
former was organizing the Scientific Society in 1864. 8 Pandit Man-
phool was an active member of the Anjuman-i-Punjab. Further,
the Punjab Education Department was appreciative of Sayyid Ahmed
Khan’s efforts. By way of encouraging him, it subscribed to his
chief ideological organ, The Aligarh Institute Gazette (1866). It was
Major Fuller, Director Public Instruction Punjab, who had introduced

18. Letter of Pandit Manphool, Lahore, 29th January 1864 to the Scientific Society in
Shah Muhammad, The Aligarh Movement : Basic Documents: 1864-1891 '! 1978, p.27.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

the Gazete in government schools and colleges. 9 Fuller was not very
enthusiastic about Leitner’s scheme of education.

Thirdly, the organizers of the Aligarh Movement were themselves
planning to open an educational institution in the N.W. Provinces.
They had raised a demand for it by asking the Government of India
to establish a University in N.W. Provinces. The demand was
parallel to the one made by the Anjuman-i-Punjab. The Government
of N.W. Province was leading it in the same way as the Punjab
administration was organizing Parjab University movemert. Facing
the rival claims of N.W. Provinces and the Punjab, the Government
of India too was not averse to open a University for ‘Northern India’
located possibly in Delhi, a central place to both Punjab and N.W.
Provinces. It was opposed by the Punjab. On this account, the
Aligarh Movement considered Leitner’s Anjuman-i-Punjab as its
‘rival’ organization.

However, it does not mean that there were no educational
differences between the two movements. In fact, the Aligarh move-
ment had a different approach towards the educational question. It
welcomed the idea of Lahore University and its establishment for
giving education through the vernaculars. But it differed with the
promoters of the Punjab scheme on the content of education to be
imparted. Aligarh movement was firmly committed to western/
‘liberal education’, though imparted possibly through the vernacular.
Sayyid Ahmed Khan had no reverence for the Oriental or indigenous
knowledge as it was the case with G.W. Leitner. It was because of
this very fact, Sayyid Ahmed Khan led British Indian Association,
N.W. Provinces (established in May 1866) had mooted a ‘vernacular
university’ for their province. Making a distinction between the
Punjab proposal and its own plan, the Association submitted. 10

The Punjab Government admitting the necessity of an
Oriental University has essayed to commence its foundation.
The aims and objects of this are excellent, but those of the
University, which we solicit for these provinces are superior.
The first had for its scope the revival and cultivation of
Oriental languages, the latter seeks to be the means of
diffusing throughout the country European learning and

9. “Proceedings of the Scientific Society, Aligarh dated 9th May, 1868” in Shah
Muhammad, Ibid., p. 163.

10. “Proceedings of a Meeting of the British Indian Association dated 11th July
1867” in Shah Muhammad (ed), op. cit., p. 263.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

civilization — the attainment of such an object would change
the whole condition of Hindostan.

In the 1870’s Sayyid Ahmed Khan demanded the establishment
of M.A. Oriental College, Aligarh. Initiative for this enterprise
came from the British Government. Sayyid Ahmed’s visit to England
in 1869 proved decisive in this regard. It convinced him of the
cultural superiority of the British and he sought their help to regene-
rate his community through modern education. The British regime
too saw in him a good ally. About this visit and its future signifi-
cance, Muhammad Sadiq writes: 11

There is not denying his great ability, courage, and
foresight, but at the same time it is faire to recognize that
his extraordinary success was in part due to his friendly
co-operation with the Government. In this respect it is not
at all fanciful to surmise that the distingu ished treatment
accorded to him in England was in part directed by political
consideration, namely, to be friend and strengthen the
Muslims as a counter-weight against middle-class Hindus.

Sayyid Ahmed returned from England as an ‘Anglicist’ believing
that the ruled could not progress without learning the language and
manners of the rulers. 12 This understanding made English language,
western knowledge and English manners significant in the eyes of the
supporters of Aligarh Movement. Workiug on this theory, Sayyid
Ahmed never attached the vernacular (Urdu) as well as the indigenous
education more significance than English education in the double
sense, i.e. education through English and education in Western
(British) knowledge. Unlike Leitner, he had no reverence for
indigenous system of education, Asian languages and the thoughts
enshrining them.

Also, Sayyed Ahmed looked upon (Western) education as a
panacea for the problems of Indians, especially the Muslims. It was
this notion which led him to oppose Punjab Government’s education
policy. He condemned the abolition of Delhi College in 1877 and
exhorted the Delhi people to organize their education themselves
instead of looking to the Government. 13

However, it was during 1880-81, that Sayyid Ahmed came most

11. Muhammad Sadiq, A History'of Urdu Literature Delhi, 1984, pp. 303-04.

12. David Lelyveld, Aligarh’s First Generation, Muslim Solidarity in British India.
Princeton, 1978, p. 206.

13. Narayani Gupta, Delhi Between Two Empires 1303-1931, Oxford, 1981, p. 104.

VOL. XXVM THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

heavily against the Punjab education policy and its main spokesman,
Leitner. He criticised them through his Aligarh Institute Gazettee
that was prescribed by the Punjab Schools and Colleges. This
criticism came in the wake of Lord Ripon’s visit to Lahore on 11 and
. 12 November, 1880, when the Viceroy promised to raise the Punjab
University College to a University committed to, unlike the other
universities in India, Indian traditions of knowledge especially its
religio-philosophical nature. Ripon’s predecessor. Lord Lytton had
also defined the object of education as social conservation rather than
social change. 14 Reacting sharply to Ripon’s Lahore speech, The
Aligarh Institute Gazette wrote :

The natives have undoubtedly obtained great benefit from
the spread of high English education. But it is to be deeply
regretted that the Government has lately shown an inclination
to adopt a retrogressive policy which is calculated to check
it. We read with concern Lord Lytton’s speeches which he
delivered at some places in the Punjab and in which he
showed that he was inclined in favour of the promotions of
oriental studies. We have seen with the same feeling the
address which was lately presented by the Senate of Panjab
University to Lord Ripon... There is a wild clamour in the
Punjab for the advancement of oriental learning. 15

The Gazette further said that Indian classical literature and
sciences were backward in comparison to the sources of modern
European knowledge. Hence, Indian vernaculars could in no way
be the medium of higher western knowledge. The technique of
bringing this knowledge by way of translations within the reach of
common man was also not very appropriate. It was so because the
work of translation could not keep pace with the rapidly expanding
knowledge, particularly in the field of science. The Gazette wrote,
“The fact of the matter is that the regeneration of India depends
entirely upon the spread of English education among the natives.” 18

This attack upon the Punjab scheme provoked the Akhbar-i-
Anjuman-i-Punjab to react in defence of the scheme. On December 10,
1880, the Akhbar wrote that “no nation in the world has risen to
greatness without cultivating and improving its own language and

14. See, Supplement to Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, dated 16 April 1879.

15. “The Aligarh Institute Gazette, 27th November, 1880”, See, Report on the
Native Newspapers, Punjab, Jan-Dec., 1880, p. 829.

.16. Ibid.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

literature.” 17 The Panjab University was not only to revive ‘the dead
Eastern Sciences’ but was also to improve them in the light of western
experience and discoveries. The history of Lahore College showed
that “it has done more towards the spread of English education in the
Punjab than towards that of Oriental learning.” 18 The Akhbar was
one with the Viceroy “in thinking that no education is perfect without
a religious education.” 19 In the Akhbar's opinion “the Government
should patronage only those men who distinguish themselves both in
Eastern and Western Science and adhere to their religion, and not the
so called votaries of Western Science who are free thinkers and whose
conduct is calculated to promote disaffection towards the Govern-
ment. ” 2#

On December 18, the Aligarh Institute Gazette shot-back by saying
that the Punjab was wrong in thinking that the Province was doing
something new and unheard before. Something similar to Punjab
education was attempted at Calcutta, and Delhi before 1857 as well as
by the Aligarh Scientific Society in the N.W. Provinces. The Directors
of Public Instruction of both Bengal, and N.W. Provinces were aware
of this ‘philosophy’. The underlying ideas of this scheme were not in
the interest of the progress of the Indian people. The Gazette says : 21

True, every nation in Europe has attained to greatness by the
improvement of its own literature and science, but our case is
quite different from that of the European nations. There is a
national rule in every country in Europe, but we are subject
to a foreign nation whose language is different from us. We
never heard of any nation, subject to another nation acquring
honour, wealth and power by the cultivation of its own lang-
uage and literature. . . . It would be as absurd for the natives
to expect to improve their condition by the revival of their
sciences as for the oborigins of America by the improvement
of their science, whatever that science may be. National
progress and national greatness are as it were two sisters. . . .
The revival of oriental literature and science is calculated to
check rather than further our progress The secret object of

17 . “The Akhbar-i-Anjuman-i-Punjab, 10th December, 1880” see, Report on the
Native News Papers, Punjab, Jan-Dec., 1880, p. 829.

18. “The Akhbar-i-Anjuman-i-Punjab, 10th Dec., 18 80”, Ibid., p. 730.

19. Ibid., p. 832.

20. Ibid.

21. “The Aligarh Institute Gazette, December 18, 1880” in Report on the Native
News Papers, Punjab, Jan-Dec., 1880, p. 851.

VOL XXVI-1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

the advocates of the Oriental system is that we should always
remain in our present state of slavery.

The Aligarh Institute Gazette was in agreement with Sir Alexander
Arbuthrot in thinking thatthe Punjab and had not only revived the old
controversy between the Orientalists and Occidentalists but it had also
added a new demension to it. Through this new dimension, the
western education was being seen as fostering ‘political discontent’,
and it was being opposed on that very ground.

A few months later, the Gazette published a report by Sayyid
Ahmed Khan upon the proceedings of the Northbrook Indian Society
and club held cn August 5, 1881, in London. The Society feared that
the Panjab University would be an institution of oriental classics and
deprive the people of high education in English literature and
European science. On this account, the Society noted that, “High
Education in the Punjab is doomed.” 22

Leitner continued to defend himself against the attacks made by
the Aligarh Institute Gazette. Through the Punjab University Intelligencer
he said that Sayyid Ahmed Khan was wrong for maintaining that the
vernacular educat : on ought to be European and necessarily given
through Urdu. Urdu could not be the medium of instruction for the
whole of Northern India. The Intelligencer reads :

Almost every province of India has its own vernacular. The
idea to have a linqua franca for the whole of India, or to make
Urdu the vernacular of the whole of Northern India, is a
utopian one. Mass education, to be successful must be given
through the spoken language of the people. For instance,
in the Punjab through Punjabi; in the North-West Provinces,
Oudh and the Central Provinces, through Hindustani (which
is a mixture of Hindi and Urdu) in Bengal through Bengali,
and so forth. 23

Sayyid Ahmed Khan did not subscribe to the Anjuman-i-Punjab’s
idea of Provincial languages being the medium of instruction. To him
the idea of using Punjabi as the medium of education and communi-
cation in the Punjab was impracticable and ridiculous. The Aligarh
Institute Gazette sarcastically observed :

We are going to receive a liberal education through a medium
of the Punjabi and Gurmukhi and the want of intercourse

22. “The Aligarh Institute Gazette, Sept. 10, 1881,” in Report on the Native News
Papers, Punjab, op. cit., p.538.

23. “The Punjab University Intelligencer, 18th October, 1881,’ in Report, Ibid.,
p. 618.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

that exists between the rulers and the ruled on account of
differences of language and habits will be a thing of the past,
and the two races will be brought together by means of the
vernacular of 'the land of five waters.’ 84

Sayyid Ahmed, as a member of the imperial legislative Assembly
successfully saw to it that the Panjab University Bill, 1882 should not
be anti English education in any way. In 1883, he visited Punjab and
addressed the Indian Association in Lahore. He asked both the Hindus
and Muslims to work together for the educational upliftment of their
countrymen, especially the Muslims. Referring to these days, Lajpat
Rai recollected :

Fortunately for the Punjab, the formal legislative incorpo-
ration of the University happened to be undertaken in the
time of a liberal viceroy like Lord Ripon with an equally
liberal Lieutenant-Governor like Sir Charles Aitchison and
the Punjab was saved from what would have been nothing
short of a disaster to the educational progress of the province.
These were those good old days when the present ill-feeling
between the Hindus and Muhammedans had not yet started
and when no less a person than Sir Syed Ahmed Khan him-
self considered it an honour to speak under the Hindus and
Muhammadens, the two pupils of his eyes. 26

Ill

The Braymo Samaj opened its branch in Lahore in 1863. Although
the Brahmos tried to run their branches in the other cities of
Punjab, yet they could succeed nowhere except Simla. In fact, the Brahmo
movement came to this region with the Bengalis, and it remained
confined to the Bengali community. The strength of the Brahmos
largely depended upon the strength of Bengalis in the region. Their
Lahore Branch owed its relative success to a comparatively large Bengali
concentration in that city where they had come either as petty-Govern-
ment officials or missionaries accompanying the British administration.
But this very fact of their being related by their profession to Govern-
ment and church helped them in becoming “the vanguard of public

24. “The Aligarh Institute Gazette, Sept. 10, 1881” See .Report on Native
Newspapers, N.W.P., January-December 18 81, p. 538 (NAI).

25. V.C. Joshi (ed.) Lala Lajpat Rai Rai, Writings and Speeches, Vol. I, 1888-1919
(Delhi, 1966), p. 119.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL -1992

life in Lahore.” 26 Eminent of them were Babu Partul Chandra
Chatterjee, Kali Prosano Roy, Joginder Chander Bose and Novin or
Ncbin Chandra Roy. First three were on the Lahore Bar.

The most prominent of the Lahore Brahmos was Novin Chandra
Roy who came to Lahore in 1869 to join as the Deputy-Superintendent
of Oriental College, and Deputy Registrar of the Panjab University
College. He was also the President of the Brahmo Samaj, Lahore, and
an active member of the Anjuman-i-Punjab. As a member of the
Anjuman-i-Punjab, he assisted Pandit Radhakishan in-charge of
Sanskrit learning in the region. 27 However, his position as asocial
reformer was soon challenged by the Hindu orthodoxy led by Pandit
Sharda Ram Philouri.

By the time Novin C. Roy came to Lahore, Urdu-Hindi cantro-
versy had already originated in N.W. Provinces. He was aware of this
controversy and was on the side of those demanding the use of Nagari
for writing ‘Hindi-Urdu’ as well as de-Persianization of this language.
He did not favour a small group of Brahmo members of the Anjuman-
i-Punjab led by Lala Behari Lai in their advocacy of the use of only
Punjabi for the Brahmo work in the Punjab. With the coming of Hunter
Commission on Primary Education in 1882, there was revived ‘Urdu-
Hindi’ controversy again. In Punjab this controversy became further
complicated when the Anjuman-i-Punjab led by Leitner, and the
Singh Sabha demanded the recognition of Punjabi in Gurmukhi as
the Provincial laguage of Punjab. This was opposed by Novin Chandra
Roy, Sitala Kanta and Kali Prosanna were on the Tribune staff, and
the former was member of Arya Samaj.

The association of the Brahmos with the Arya Samaj was far
from being sudden. It had begun in 1873 when Swami Dayanand
visited Calcutta. In fact, it was on the advice of Brahmo leaders of
Bengal like Kesheb Chandra Sen and Davindra Nath Tagore that the
Swami had adopted Hindi for his work. This association continued and
Novin Chandra Roy met Dayanand during the Imperial Assemblage
at Delhi in January 1877. He invited Dayanand to visit Lahore.
In Lahore the Brahmos were the first to play host to the Swami and to
project him as the restorer of greatness to India civilization. For
example. Pandit Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, a prpminent Brahmo of Lahore,

26. Ganda Singh (ed.), Bhagat Lakshman Singh Autobiography, Calcutta, 1965,
p. 46.

27. Proceedings, Home-Public, A, 1872, Nos. 235-55 (NAI).

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

w rote in his journal Bar adari-i- Hind about Dayanand thus :

To be brief, the destruction of ignorance and prejudice from
among the raticr, the diffusion of knowledge,) the creation
of a natonal union, and evolving, out of this Union, an all-
embracing civilization, which will make the Indian commu-
nity a model community, is the first and final aim of this man. 28

Perhaps, the most important contribution made by the Brahmos
of Lahore was the formation of Indian Association in 1877. It was a
branch of Indian Association, Calcutta. The latter was organized on
July 24, 1876 by Surendranath Banerjea and A.M. Bose, -vyith the object
of bringing the people of various provinces of India, especially the
educated ones, on a common political platform. For this they had
launched a civil services agitation and made a determined effort to
teach patriotism and politics to the younger generation through
their speeches and writings and by organizing students’ Associations
in many districts of Bengal. By opening branches out side Bengal,
they hoped to build a national center around the Association for
struggle against the British. For this, they naturally looked to the
Bengali community settled in North India especially the Brahmo
missionaries, pleaders and teachers as their first allies. No wonder if
Lahore Association was “mainly composed of or controlled by
expatriate Bengalis.” 29 .

The target-audience for the Association was everywhere the
intelligentsia. It was more so in the Punjab where both in Delhi and
Lahore the educated were agitating over the closure of Delhi College.
The closure decision was made public at the Delhi Durbar where
Surendranath Banerjea was present as a correspondent of The
Hindu Patriot. Led by the more active and ‘independent’ member
of the Delhi Society, the people protested against the closure
decision to the Viceroy, and the Secretary of State for India. They
organised public meetings both as a mark of protest and for raising
subscriptions for reviving or opening a new college. One such
meeting was addressed by Sayyid Ahmed Khan also.

28. Quoted in Chhajju Singh, Life and Teachings of Swami Dayanand Sarswati,
Pt. II, Lahore, 1903, p. 335.

29. S.R. Mehrotra, The Emergence of the Indian National Congress, Vikas, 1971 ,

p. 168.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

The Punjab Government’s decision to close the Delhi College
and to raise the Panjab University College to a University attracted
Banerjea’s attention. He publically denounced the Government which
“could not spend Rs. 12,000 a year for the maintenance of an ancient
and time honoured seat of learning (when) the Delhi Assemblage cost
60 lacs.” 30 He was sure that the people of Delhi “will not allow
themselves to fall asleep over the abolition.” 31

The Delhi protest against the closure of College was supported
by some ‘hundred citizens’ from Lahore led by Pandit Manphool.
In fact, it was this resentment against the Government which gave birth
to Lahore Indian Association to counter what was regarded as the
anti-English education policy of the Punjab Government being
practiced under the influence of Leitner.

If Surendranath Banerjea was not happy with the Punjab Govern-
ment for its closure decision, Swami Dayanand and his supporters
were displeased with it for not recognizing the Swami’s worth as a
Vedic scholar. Dayanand had sent his commentry upon the Vedas to
different Orientalists including those associated with the Panjab
University College and the Oriental College Lahore. He had done so
from Bombay in 1875, and from Benaras in 1877. When he came to
Lahore in April 1877, he met J. Griffith and Holryod, the Punjab
Secretary, and Director Public Instruction, respectively. His aim was
to persuade them to get his works introduced as study courses at the
Panjab University College. 32 He also requested the Government to
subsidize the publication of his Vedic commentry. After consulting
R. Griffith, Principal, Banars Sanskrit College, C.H.Tawaney, Principal
Presidency College, Calcutta, and three Sanskrit scholars of Lahore,
the Punj'ab Government rejected Dayanand’s proposals. The report
on the basis of which the Punjab decision was made had been sub-
mitted by Leitner, the Registrar of Panjab University College. The Arya
Samaj, Lahore, got hold of this report on 25th August, 1877. Imme-
diately, the Aryas made two representations to the Punjab Government.
In one representation, Dayanand made an attempt to meet the
objections raised in the report, and in the second, the Lahore Arya Samaj
prayed to the Government for the reconsideration of its decision.

30. Quoted in Narayani Gupta, op.eit., p. 109.

31. Ibid.

32. Dayanand remained in Lahore from 19th April, 1877 to 11th July, 1878.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

Both these representations were rej'ected on 14th November, 1877. 33

The Lahore Arya Samaj was led by its President, Mulraj M.A.
Before his coming to Lahore in 1877, he had been Secretary of the
Delhi Society that opposed the Punjab Government’s decision to
close down the Delhi college. He was convinced that Leitner was
personally responsible for the closure decision.

It was with this background that the Lahore Arya Samaj started
its work. Clearly like the Lahore Indian Association, it began its
organizational career with a note of resentment against the Punjab
Government as well as Leitner because they had not patronized
Dayanand. This resentment took a new turn after the Viceroy’s
declaration at the convocation of Panjab University college in
April 1879 that his government would soon introduce a Bill in the
Imperial Legislature granting the conversion of the college into
universiy. The Viceroy, Lytton’s declaration “infinitely strengthened
the hands of the Lieutenant Governor and of all supporters of the
movement in favour of a national education....” 34

This argument of ‘national education’ did not find favour with
the Brahmos and the Arya' Samaj. It was interpreted as to mean the
restoration of indigenous system of education in which there was to be
no place for western knowledge and English language. When made
against the background of Punjab Government’s closure of Delhi
College, this interpretation also meant that state adminitration was
inclined to discourage higher education. The Brahmo Samaj with its
Bengali core was particularly concerned with it, because the establish-
ment of Panjab University would mean first and foremost the split of
Calcutta University, and the separation of Punjab from Bengal. They
saw behind this move the working of that Anglo-Indian spirit in
accordance with which the intelligentsia of Bengal represented by ‘the
Babu’ was politically unreliable and deserved repression. 36 Their
fears were further strengthened by the pronouncements of Punjab

33. J.T.F. Jorden, Dayanad Sarswati : His Life and Ideas, Delhi, 1978, p. 117.

34. Proceedings, Home Educationi A, August 1879, nos. 21-27, NAI.

35. Referring to this feeling of many among the Punjab administration, the
Lahore Chronicle commented on March 14, 1868 : ‘‘No doubt many dread the
spread of English education any further, when they read and hear the speeches
and sentimentss of the Bengalis, and see their independence oh the Bench and at
the Bar and their usefulness in all departments of public service, but do they
think that the fire which had been handled in the breast of the native through
English education could now be quenched ?” p. 305.

VOL. XXVT-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

officials who often emphasised that the Punjab education was aimed at
avoiding the production of something like the English speaking Babus
(of Bengal) in the Punjab. The denigration . of Bengal system of
education as well as its product ‘the Babu’ was taken as their own
denigration by the Bengali community in Lahore composed largely of
the Babus or the petty officials. Due to this reason, the community
actively supported the opponents of Punjab Government’s education
‘policy, particularly on the question of raising Panjab University
(College to a University.

, The criticism of Punjab education policy in general, and of Leitner
in particular by the organisations, like the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj,
,and Indian Association, had its impact upon the students in Lahore.
This impact became visible in July 1880 at the Government College
Lahore, where Leitner was the Principal. There a group of students
boycotted their classes. 36 The group was agitated over the rough
treatment given to one of their fellow-student, namely, Sri Ram,
by the Principal. Sri Ram was the brothher of Mulraj, President
. of Lahore Arya Samaj. The latter was a critic of Leitner since
; 1877. The incident attracted the attention of not only the press
; in the province but also the newspapers of Calcutta. It got wide
publicity through the Safir-i-Hind, a vernacular weekly of
' Amritsar. It was reported that Sri Ram was beaten up “severely” by
Leitner. 37 The Safir said that the incident of beating was not the first
one. It was a habit with Leitner who had forced many respectable
parents to send their sons to Aligarh for study. Hence it was obvious
how unpopular the Lahore College had become under Dr Leitner’s
management, 38 wrote the weekly.

This incident was given vide publicity by Surendranath Banerjea’s
newspaper, the Bengalee™. Leitner was projected as an enemy of the
Brahmo and. Arya students. The Bengalee asked the students in Punjab
to shed their timidity and teach him a lesson. The newspapers demanded
that Leitner should not be allowed to prohibit the students from
attending Brahmo and Arya Samaj meetings. 40

36. “The Punjabi Akhbar,” July 17, 1880 in Report on Native News Papers,
v: Punjab, January ■ - December, 1880, p. 501 (NAI).

... . 37. “Safir-i-Hind”, Amritsar, July 10, 1880 in Report, ibid., p. 478.

38. Ibid.

39. “The Safir-i-Hind,” Amritsar, July 17, 1880 in Report, op. cit., p. 502.

40. Ibid.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

The Akhbar- i-Anjuman- i-P unjab refuted the charges made against
Leitner. The Akhbar wrote that “Dr Leitner does not prohibit the ;
students of the Lahore College from going to the Brahmo Samaj or , ;
the Arya Samaj.” 41

It did not stop the Safir-i-Hind which wrote that some people were
trying in vain to defend Leitner though their arguments had already
been refuted. The Safir reads :

Did he beat Sri Ram...to gratify his old enimity against his
brother Mul Raj ? 42

In mid-October, 1880, the Lahore Indian Association submitted a
memorial to the Punjab Government requesting it not to raise the >
Panjab University College to University. A few days later, the >
Viceroy’s visit to Lahore and his speeches there in connection with the -
Panjab University, provoked Sayyid Ahmed Khan to denounce the
Punjab move as unprogressive. His Aligarh Institute Gazette not only
itself lashed out at the backward ideology Of Punjab education but ':
also boldened the local press in Lahore and Amritsar to come forward ;
against the Panjab University as well as Leitner.

The Safir-i-Hind again took the lead and opposed the promotion
of Panjab University College to the University. It . rejected Leitner’s '
argument that religion must form a part of education system and the
priestly classes ought to be associated with the task of giving education
and regenerating Indian languages and society. Considering this idea,
as ridiculous, the Safir asks :

Is there at present a scarcity of Pandits and Mullas in the
Punjab that it is intended to make more Pandits and Mullas
in order that they may offer prayers every day in the morning
on behalf of the souls of the Panjab University and its
supporters ? 43

In the s imilar vain, The Akhbar-i-Am , wrote :

There are many Maulvis and Pandits who are perfect Arabic
and Sanskrit scholars but do they in the least promote the
interests of their country ? They are not eligible for posts in
the public service and are held in no respect by Government.
They are quite ignorant of politics. 44

41. “The Akhbar-i-Aniuman-i-Punjab, 23 July, 1880” in Report, op. cit., pp. 5, 9.

42. “The Safir-i-Hind, July 24, 1880” in Report, op. cit, p. 519.

43. “The Safir-i-Hind”, Amritsar, January 15,1881 in Report on Native News ’
Papers, N.W.P., January-December 1881 (NAI).

44. “The Akhbar-i-Am,” October 12, 1881 in Report, ibid.,p. 602.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

Elaborating on the political aspect of the education question,
the Akhbar-i-Am said that Local Self-Government would comp to India
stage by stage and province by province, because, all parts of India
were not at the same level of mental-development. However, the turn
of Punjab might never come. The Akhbar. writes:

Surely the Punjab will never be considered fit for it, because
its inhabitants have been declared to. be more dangerous
than those of any other Province, and rigorous efforts are
already being made to put a stop to English education here. 45

Meanwhile, the Lahore India Association criticized the Punjab
education policy and started organizing public meetings against the
decision of converting Panjab University college into university. It
also launched an English organ of its own. The Tribune, in February
1881.

First of these meetings took place in Amritsar in March 1881.
It was followed by a letter of protest which A.M. Bose, Secretary of
Indian Association, Calcutta, wrote to the Secretary of State for India

In its letter, the Association gave three reasons for its interven-
tion in the matter. First, the Association had a branch in Lahore,
and it was legitimate for it to support its own Branch which was
opposing the Panjab University. Secondly, the people of Bengal
felt for the future of the people of Punjab. They had learnt to do so
through a common system of education in the two provinces. Thirdly,
the issue was relevant to the future of ‘high education’ in India as
such. Taking the Punjab policy as injurious to ‘high education/
and identifying ‘high education’ with ‘English education,’ the letter
says :

The abolition of the Delhi College was a serious blow
to High English Education in the Punjab, which caused a
deep sensation at that time, and which even now is deplored
by the entire educated community of India. Ever since then,
the committee regret to say, the education policy that has
been pursued in the Punjab has been of a retrograde and
repressive character... . 46

Referring to the past experience of the Panjab University College
the Association maintained that in an obvious bid to discourage
English education it undertook to instruct the people through the

45. Ibid., November 19, 1881, p. 687.

46. “Letter of Baboo A.M. Bose, Honorary Secretary, Indian Association, to
Secretary of State for India, 27th July, 1881“ in Proceedings, Home Education,
A, September, 1881, Nos. 25-27. Hereafter called ’Letter of A.M. Bose.'

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

medium of their vernculars. The vernaculars of Punjab, like those of
many other provinces, “are in a very backward state and are utterly
unfit to train the mind or to communicate a knowledge of the modern
sciences .” 47 As there was not a single book existing in these langua-
ges for this purpose, the college took on itself the task of producing
some such works through translations. However, this enterprize did
not succeed. Feeling that the Punjab experiment was bound to
failure, the Association writes:

In the humble opinion of the committee the Panjab Univer-
sity College authorities have set to work in a wrong way
altogether. They have taken upon themselves to form a
literature formed under such circumstances and under such
auspices. Foreigners, however, learned and however well-
intentioned, can never hope to form the literature of an other
people, and the only way in which they can help in the
formation of such a literature is by bestowing on the people
a sound education and thus enabling them to create a
literature for themselves . 48

This was what had happened in Bengal where the missionaries
tried to produce literature in Bengali but could not succeed. Recogni-
zing this fault Macaulay gave a sound system of English education to
Bengal. The English educated Bengalis produced good literarure in
Bengali. The same could be “repeated” in the Punjab.

The Association advises:

Let the people have a thorough English education, and they
will themselves form their own literature without any interf-
erence on the part of the educational authorities . 49

Apart from these aspects, the Association saw that the issue
“involves political considerations of a weighty character .” 60 Explain-
ing it, the letter says:

The spread of English education is, indeed, the firmest basis
of the permanancy of British rule in India, while at the
same time it affords the only possible means to elevate the
people and make them share in the glorious heritage of
moderm civilizition. The light of western culture has alrea-
dy dawned in India, and as an immediate and direct conseq-

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid.

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

lienee the various nationalities which inhabit this vast
continent are rising as it were from a long sleep and are
advancing in knowledge and civilization. 61

The Government of India did not take any action upon this
representation of Indian Association. It did not even bother to bring
r its objections into the notice of Punjab administration. 62

The Lahore Indian Association continued with its programme of
holding public meetings against the university decision of the
Government. It submitted memorials demanding English education.
One such meeting was held in Rawalpindi on 20th September, 1881.
'It was called by Lala Kishan Chand, Secretary, Arya Samaj,

■ Rawalpindi. The meeting decided to submit a memorial drawn up by
Babu Suresh Chandra and Babu Chander Nath Mitra. The Tribune

■ published the proceedings of this meeting. 63

When Leitner came to know about the Rawalpindi memorial,
he wrote to Mohamed Aslam Sher Khan, an Extra Assistant
Commissioner of Rawalpindi, to submit a counter memorial in favour
of the university. 64 In his letter, Leitner charged the Arya Samaj of
engineering anti-university move in Rawalpindi. He particularly
eriticized the Arya Samaj President about whom he wrote to Aslam
Sher Khan :

Munshi Mulraj is a man of notoriously bad character, that
he was expelled from the university, and that he is the leader
of the Arya Samaj. 56

The Tribune, Lahore not only gave coverage to the actions of
those opposing the University, but also took upon itself to defend
their position. For example, on October 8, 1881, it quoted Lord
Lytton to the effect that the objects, the methods, and the relative
spheres of action of the Punjab and Calcutta universities were not
only different but they were essentially dissimilar. Lytton was reported
to have said that the Bengal system of education in Punjab "might
possibly weak (en) their nationality, but it would not certainly stren-
gthen their loyalty”. According to The Tribune, Lytton’s statement
meant "in plain English that the manly Sikh must not be allowed to

51. Ibid.

52. Proceedings, Home Education, A, September 1881, Nos. 25-27 (NAI).

53. The Tribune, Lahore, September 24, 1881.

54. Ibid., Oct. 15 and 22, 1881.

55. “The Koh-i-Noor, October 26, 1881” in Report, op. cit., pp. 631-32.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PANJAB, 1865-1885

acquire theindependence and ability of the physically Weak Bangali .” 56

A similar memorial as that of Rawalpindi was made against the
Panjab University by some inhabitants of Gujranwala . 57 The memor-
' ialists gave two reasons for their action. First, they did so as they
feared that the university would discourage English education. It
would be harmful for the regeneration of India and her literature.
Indian classical languages and vernaculars could not regenerate
' her, they said.

The Memorial reads :

The people of the East,, your memorialists are of humble
opinion, cannot be revived by any attempts to infuse life into
their great dead literature, the only means of reviving them,
lies in the infusing of the spirit, of truth, freedom, manliness,
equality self-help, preservance and activity which breaths in
every page of the English literature, for nothing else is
calculated to change for better the dreamy impracticle char-
acter of our country-men, which is a result of the influence
exercised on their minds from generation to generation by
the poetry and philosophy of their country which are prover-
bially dreamy and impracticle . 58

The second reason for the Memorialists to opp ose the coming
university was that its existing Senate could not discharge its duty
"with intelligence, independence, eff iciency - and proper regard for
theeducational interests of the Province .” 69 First, the Senate should
be reorganized. The new Senate should have half of its members
Indians and half of these Indian members must “be men of high
English education and independence of character .” 60

Some people from Gujranwala, led by Basant Lai, submitted a
counter memorial supporting the Panjab University College and its
conversion into University . 61 Referring to be first memorial from their
city opposing the conversion of the college, it says :

Your memorialists emphatically repudiate the memorial sent
in the name of their town which was the work of some Babus

56. The Tribune, Lahore, October 8, 1881.

57. See, Proceedings, Home Education-B, November 1881, Nos. 8-9 (NAl).

58. Ibid., op. eit.

59. Ibid.

60. Ibid.

61. “Gujranwala Memorial in Favour of Punjab University Bill received by the
Government of Punjab on 4.11.81” in Proceedings Home Education, B,
November. 1881, Nos; 10-11 (Hereafter called ‘Gujranwala Memorial’ (NAI).

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

of Lahore, who succeeded, through the limited influence of
two youngmen presiding over the local government and
mission schools in getting it signed chiefly by the boys of their
schools. As that memorial does not represent the rank,
influence, number, learning or even the majority of our town,
therefore, we hope that, that unpatriotic memorial will not
engage the attention of your Excellency. 02

The counter-memorial expressed the hope that the Viceroy would
not depart “from those liberal and free principles laid down in the
statutes of the Parjab University College, which have worked so well,
during the last eleven years and in which they see every hope for the
formation of a national civilization and the revival of their classical
languages and literatures.” 63

A significant feature of the counter-memorial from Gujranwala
was that the memorial was both in English and Nagari-Hindi. The
portion of the memorial in Nagari-Hindi defended the Panjab
University College for its contribution -in reviving the ancient learning,
especially the religious studies, which the people of the land had
forgotten, tt reads in Nagari Hindi :

Pratham, jin granthon aur shastron ke nam se bhi harrj bhul
gaye thei ab ve granth aur shastr aur unke abhigy vigyan nagar-
nagar main mil sakte haif A

(First and foremost, granthas and Shastras, the (holy) works
which were lost to our memory, have now been, together
with the sciences they contained, made available (by the
college) in each and every town.

This was a reference to Sanskrit studies which the college
attempted, and this reference was intended obviously to silence the
organizations like the Arya Samaj opposing the college and university
but posing themselves as the champions of ancient and indigenous
wisdom. It is important to remember that the differences among the
Aryas over the issue of as to what an extent their system of education
should be Sanskritic or correspondingly Anglicist were cropped up
as early as 1883. These differences culminated in the split of Arya
Samaj a decade later. The arguments put forward by ‘the Gurukul
Party’ were not much different from that of Leitner. 06 Perhaps, the
Arya Samaj could not and did not reject Leitner’s ideas in total.

62. Gujranwala Memorial, op. cit.

63. Ibid.

64. Ibid.

65. Kenneth W. Jones, AryaOb aram, Manohar, 1976, p. 22.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PANJAB, 1865-1885

Be as it may,, the public meetings and memorials from .
Rawalpindi, and Gujranwala showed the participation of pleaders,
teachers and students in the anti-university 'agitation’ led by the
Lahore Indian Association backed by the Arya Samaj and Brahmo
Samaj- The role of 'baboos’ and Bengalis was conspicuous from their
actions like the drafting up of memorials, and from the defence of
Bengal system of education by The Tribune edited by a Bengali. The
Bengali influence over the agitators became visible when a students’
Association was organized in Lahore in 1881. The initiative for this
came from Novin Chandra Roy and this Lahore Students’ Associa-
tion was based upon the model provided by Surendranath Banerjea
and A.M. Bose’s Students’ Association, in Bengal.

The pro-British newspapers were quick to notice the presence of
Bengalis on the side of those opposing Punjab Government’s
education policy. The Civil and Military Gazette was perhaps the first
to brand this opposition as Bengali inspired. On November 19, 1880,
it remarked that the University controversy had the shades of old
controversy between the 'Anglicists’ and 'the Orientalists.’ But there
was something more also about it. Referring to it, the Gazette wrote,
“The cry, too, has been raised of ‘the Calcutta University in danger’
and the worthy and estimable Bengali element in our midst has been
called to the rescue.” 66 A year following it, a local vernacular news-
paper condemned the educated Punjabis “who, acting under the evil
advice of some Bengalis, protest against the raising of the Panjab
University to the full status of a University.” 67 This tendency of
branding anti-government agitations as Bengali inspired was to grow
among the Punjab official circles with the growth of national
consciousness among the people of the region.

Inspite of this propaganda the Lahore Students Association got
a good response from the local student community. Its organizer.
Nobin Chandra Roy became popular with them so much so that all
the students of Medical College, Lahore, “joined enmasse” 68 the
Punjab Brahmo Samaj on December 9, 1881. During 1881, the
Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj launched the Nagari-Hindi agitation
demanding the use of it in the educatipnal institutions and law-courts
in the Punjab. A signature campaign was launched in this connection
among the students. The campaign proved a success for the Arya
Samaj which was able to attract some of the. Brahmo activists like

66. The Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, November 19, 1880.

67. “The Rahbar-i-Hind, December 5, 1881” in Report, op. cit.

68. The Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, Nov. 19, 1880.

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VOL.XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

Lajpat Rai towards its programme and organization. Lajpat Rai
started his political career with this signature campaign which he had
joinecf under the inspiration of Guru Dutt. 69

In 1883, in a serious bid to concert Indian Association into an
all-India centre of anti-British movement, Surendranath Banerjea
launched a ‘national fund’ collection campaign. For this purpose,
a ‘National Society’ was constituted. However, Banerjea was arrested
in connection with what is called ‘the Bengalee libel case.’ 70 The
arrest of Banerjea and the Ilbert Bill controversy created a lot of
excitement among the intelligentsia in Lahore. On April 1, 1883, a
meeting of the committee for collecting ‘National Fund’ took place in
the city. Attended by more than a hundred educated gentlemen, the
meeting was addressed by R.C. Bary in English, and by Maharam
Ali, editor of Koh-i-Nur, in Urdu. 71

The imprisonment of Banerjea in May led to a number of
student meetings in Lahore demanding his release. A general
meeting of the students was held in the Tribune premises on 26th
May. Attended by 600 students, the meeting adopted three resolutions
on Banerjea’s imprisonment. The first resolution moved by Ruchi
Ram says that “this meeting expresses its deep and heartfelt sympathy
with the distinguished patriot Babu Surendranath Banerjea.” 78 It was
seconded by Hari Kishan and supported by Guru Dutt. The second
resolution provided for sending a telegram of sympathy to Banerjea.
Moving the resolution, Jai Ram compared Banerjea to Mazzini.
Bhai Ditt Singh made an ‘enthusiastic speech’ in the support. By the
third resolution, a committee was formed to enlighten the public on
the issues involved in his arrest.

The ‘National Society’ also met the same day and decided to
raise subscriptions for the ‘national fund.’ Similar meetings were
held in Hazara and Ambala.

Banerjea was released in the first week of July. The Tribune gave
a head line to his release which runs : ‘Surendranath Banerjea

liberated.’ 74 The release did not dampen public enthusiasm as the

69. Ibid.

70. See, S.R. Mehrotra. op. cit., pp. 259-61.

71. The Tribune, Lahore, April 21, 1883.

72. Ibid., June 2, 1883.

73. The Tribune, Lahore, July 7, 1 883.

74. Ibid., July 7, 1883.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-18S5

other two issues namely the ‘national fund’ and the Ilbert controversy
continued to attract intelligentsia’s attention.

In June 1884, Banerjea toured Punjab in connection with his
scheme of ‘national fund.’ He visited Ambala, Lahore, Amritsar,
Rawalpindi and Multan. In Lahore, the Students’ Association
organized a welcome function in his honour. The address presented
by the Association to him on the occasion was in recognition of his
services “for the good of our father land.” 76 The address was signed
by Guru Datt, President, and Lalu Ram Bajpai andM adan Mohan
Lai, Secretaries of the Association.

Banerjea’s visit to Punjab strengthened the ‘national fund’
collection campaign. The people responded favourably. About this
response, The Tribune wrote, “This is highly encouraging and may,
we think, rightly put Bengal with all its riches and its millionaire
Zamindars to the Blush.” 76

A salient feature of these public meetings, especially the ones held
in connection with the Ilbert Bill, was the participation of Sikhs in
them. If Bhai Ditt Singh was active in the students movement, Bhai
Jawahir Singh was active in the Arya Samaj and Indian Association
movements. The latter was successful in winning the Singh Sabha’s
support for the Ilbert Bill and the civil services agitation. 77 The Sikh
participation in these meetings organized by the Indian Association
was particularly marked in Rawalpindi where the Sikh Sardars like
Baba Khem Singh Bedi, Sujan Singh, Malik Khazan Singh, Sher
Singh and Tara Singh supported them. 78 The Rawalpindi Branch of
the Indian Association was one of the few active branches of Associa-
tion in the region. It had, for The Tribune, made Rawalpindi ‘the
northern most limit of the enlightened Punjab.’ 79

If these public meetings and political activities were the signs of
rising ‘national’ consciousness among the Punjabi intelligentsia inspired
by the Bengalis for The Tribune, this very fact of Bengali publicists
acquiring popularity through their influence over the educated in
Punjab was a matter of regret for the Civil and Military Gazette. The
participation of Sikh students in the activities of Student’s Association
was a matter even of greater regret for the Gazette. On June 2, 1883,

75. The Tribune, Lahore, May 31 , 1884.

76. Ibid., June 17, 188 4.

77. Ibid., August 30, 1884. <■■■■•

78. The Tribune, Lahore, Nov. 8. 1884.

79. Ibid.

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the Gazette commented upon the student meeting at Lahore thus :

The meetings were got up by Bengalis who put forward their
tools — the unfortunate students — to occupy the prominent
places, make speeches and so forth; in order that the reports
of the meetings might lead people down country to suppose
that these gatherings were spontaneous out-come of Punjabi
feelings. 80

In its next issue, the Gazette published a letter reporting that at the
students’ meeting of 26th May, a Sikh gentleman distinguished himself
by asking his audience to carry on their work given by Babu Surendra-
nath Banerjea by ‘the preservance with which the Sikh Gurus have
pursued their aims, in the face of serious difficulties.’ He went on to
suggest that ‘the Babu be informed that we are ready to sacrifice our
lives for you.’ 81

This ‘Sikh gentleman’ was obviously Bhai Ditt Singh, who had
supported the second resolution upon Surendranath Banerjea in the
students’ meeting of May 26. About him, the Gazette wrote :

All these statements of this so called gentleman very clearly
show that he was not a real Sikh; and they did rather abuse
Sikhism than serve all his arguments. He seems to belong
to the class of the Sikh youth, who receive education at
college these days, and who are with a few exceptions, nominal
Sikhs only; for they have deviated so much from the path of
Sikhism as to have become something else. Having lost
their national characteristics on account of this deviation they
have imbibed agitationary principles...... 82

Ten days after these remarks that declared the participation in
Indian ‘nationalist’ activities an act of apostasy for a Sikh, and which
declared existing education as the cause of Sikh youth’s deviation
from Sikhism resulting in apostasy as well as agitationary spirit among
them, the Gazette reported that the various Singh Sabhas of the Punjab
were engaged themselves in a scheme for establishing a ‘national
institution’ of education. Taking apostasy and disloyalty as the two
sides of the same coin, and after lamenting over the two being in
currency among the Sikh youth, the paper saw that, “The promoters
of the scheme deplore the degeneracy of the Sikh youth of the towns
and villages; and they intended that the training to be provided by the

80. Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, June 2. 1883, p. 4.

81. Ibid., June 6, 1884, p. 6.

82. Ibid.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

proposed institution shall be something more than a mere intellectual
character.” 83 Obviously, it was to be an education addressing itself
to the problems of apostasy and disloyalty to the British among the
Sikhs. The movement for Khalsa College and ‘Sikh education’ aimed
at producing men expected to be true to their religion, and true to the
salt of their British masters by remaining ignorant of ‘agitationary
principles’ was in the making.

The tendency of the Civil and Military Gazette of describing every
anti-British move as Bengali inspired and of tracing every such move
to the lack of religious instruction in the Bengal system of education
was aimed at creating regional and religious sentiments against Bengal.
It also meant the rejection of secular education. Above all it was an
encouragement to the demand for denominational education. The

education was to be organized mainly religio-community-wise, making
even the region of little consequence.

The tendency was given a finishing touch by Sir Sayyfd Ahmed
Khan. In 1888, he came openly against the Indian National Congress.
In his famous Lucknow speech he condemned it by calling it an
organization of the Bengalis. Certainly, he was speaking in the
language of the Civil and Military Gazette while denouncing the ^ Indian
National Congress as a political misch ief done by the Bengali babus
to cause harm to the loyal Muslims and brave Rajputs, and
Marathas. 84 However, the Sayyid was not alone and had his counter-
parts in the Khalsa Diwan. Once again no person was to be more
happy than the editor of the Civil and Military Gazette over the Khalsa
Diwan Lahore’s boycott of the Congress in 1888. 86 On November 8,
1888, the Gazette reads :

The action of the Mussalmans and now of the Sikhs in
denouncing the Congress move in the Punjab greatly streng-
thens the hands of the government in opposing the flood of
Bengali sedition and the Bengali Ummedwars that threaten
to devour this province alive... The protest of the Mussal-
man and Sikh against the Congress agitation is the protest
of the Punjab against the Bengali Pleague. We have now
very good hope that the Punjabi Hindu will see on which
side his interests lie, and will join his fellow countrymen of
the Punjab.

83. Ibid., June 16, 1884.

84. Shan Mohammed, The Aligarh Movement, Vol. Ill, Meerut, 1978, p. 994.

85. The Civil and Military Gazette, November 8, 1888.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

The Lahore Singh Sabha came into existence on November 12,
1879, against a historical background of the introduction of
Gurmukhi Panjabi at the Oriental College during 1877-78 as well the
hightened educational controversy over the issue of the Panjab
University during 1877-79. .

The development of Punjabi had acquired some urgency for the
British administration in the wake of the rise of Namdhari movement
among the Sikhs of Punjab in the 1860’s. Feeling the necessity of
better knowing the Sikh tradition so that it could be able to handle
the community rightly, the Government had hired the services of
Ernest Trumpp to make available the Sikh scriptures in English.
During the course of translation work, Trumpp 86 found the Sikhs
hopelessly ignorant of their tradition. Certain Indian advisors of
the Government, who were especially consulted in connection with
Trumpp’s mission to know as to from which part of the Sikh literature
Ram Singh the Namdhari had derived his anti-establishment ideology,
suggested that the Kuka creed was something new and unheard before
even by the Sikhs. The Sikhs and non-Sikhs including a few Muslims
were following the Kukkas out of ignorance. This ignorance had,
thus, a political aspect. Trumpp had proposed a remedy to over-
come this ignorance. The remedy was that Panjabi in the Gurmukhi
should be developed ‘as the national language of Punjab.’ In 1873
was formed the Singh Sabha, Amritsar, with one of its objectives as
‘the upliftment of Punjabi.’ Leitner introduced Panjabi at the Oriental
College in 1877-78. Doing so, he implemented the Singh Sabba’s
programme of cultivating Panjabi among the Sikhs so that they could
be made aware of their religious beliefs.

Working on the educational theory of Leitner, the Singh Sabha
Lahore opened a Gurmukhi School in 1880 in Lahore. It was the
beginning of denominational education among the Sikhs. It was
based upon the notion that education should be such that it could be
helpful in preserving Sikhism and highlighting its distinct identity.
The education should be given in Punjabi. The study of Punjabi in
xhe Gurmukhi script would, because of its close association with Sikh
tradition and literature, revive Sikhism. The Sikh community should

86. See, E. Trumpp’s Letter dated 23th January, 1873 to Under Secretary of State
for India in Proceedings, Foreign Gen. A. July 1873, Nos. 34-37 (NAI).

87. See, “Copy of Notes of Conversation held with a view to ascertain if Adi
Cranth throws any light upon the political history of the Sikhs,” in Proceedings,
Fore-Gen. A, January, 1874, No,. 3 (NAI).

(

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

be mobilised for the education of its members. The community
should be made aware of its educational and religious backwardness
which was causing its decline. For this, the community must have
its own educational institutions. The government’s help and the co-
operation of European community should be sought for this purpose.
As the active loyalty to the British regime would ensure this help,
so all politics should be shunned.

In order to achieve this objective, the Sabha took two steps in
1880. First, an education committee was established. The committee
included Europeans, mainly the British officials, as well as Indian
‘Gentlemen.’ Leitner was also on it. The Sabha supported his
efforts of raising the Panjab University College to the University level.
It acted unitedly with the Anjuman-i-Punjab in the defence of the
educational policy of Punjab Government which was under attack
by a section of the Lahore Indian Association, a faction of Anjuman-
i-Punjab, and the Lahore Arya Samaj. When the Viceroy, Lord
Ripon visited Lahore on November 11 and 12, 1880, a memorial
favouring the Punjab Government’s decision to convert the college
into university was submitted. The ‘Memorial’ was on behalf of
“The Anjuman-i-Punjab and kindered Associations.” The latter
referred to Anjuman-i-Islamia, Kasur Anjuman and the Singh Sabha
Lahore. The common ‘memorial’ expressed the hope that the Panjab
University would provide an education imbibed “with those religious
and moral principles which existing in all creeds, are most consistent
with true progress, and without which the Anjuman has always
maintained secular instruction, in vain, if not pernicious.” 88 Thus,
Singh Sabha Lahore started its activities as one of the ‘kindered
Associations’ of Leitner’s Anjuman-i-Punjab. The Sabha ’s object
was “to spread enlightenment among the Sikh community by means of
the Punjabi language, to extend female education, and to raise a
population that has ever been foremost in its loyalty to the British
Crown by the improved cultivation of the agricultural and industrial
resources of the country.” 89 Leitner worked for the Sabha for six
years from 1880-85.

Secondly, Bhai Gurmukh Singh brought out a Panjabi weekly,
Gurmnkhi Akhbar, for propagating ideas underlying the Singh Sabha.
Its first issue came out in the first week of December 1880. It was
the beginning of Sikh journalism committed to mobilize the Sikh
community for its educational and religious needs. Bhai Gurmukh

88. Civil and Military Gazettee, Lahore, Nov. 13, 1880, p. 5.

89. Ibid.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992”

Singh also came into contact with Leitner who appointed him as an
instructor of Mathematics at the Oriental College in 1881.

The year 1881 also saw an agitation organized by a faction of
Indian Association, Lahore, and the Lahore Arya Samaj against the
Punjab Government’s decision to convert Panjab University College
into Panjab University. Public meetings were organised in Amritsar,
Lahore and Rawalpindi and memorandums were drawn and submitted
against the education policy of the Punjab Government. However,
Leitner and his supporters started a counter-agitation in favour of the
promotion of the college to university. 90

The Singh Sabha Lahore lent its support to Leitner, and its organ ,
Gurmukhi Akhbar, wrote in the defence of Punjab University College.

It drew a sharp adverse comment from The Tribune, Lahore, which
remarked on August 27, 1881 that it would be enough to say that
“Dr Leitner is a great patron, if not the President of that body:” 91
The University agitation continued to develop, and the Sabha sub-
mitted a memorial demanding the starting of the teaching of Panjabi
at the University. It was bitterly opposed by The Tribune that virtually
declared Lahore Singh Sabha as a creation of Leitner. 92

The Panjab University was established in 1882. In the same
year the Hunter Commission on Education was appointed. However,
by this time educational controversy in the Punjab had thrown up
some fundamental issues such as the question of ‘nationality’ and
‘loyalty.’ To this was added the language issue which once again
came to the fore in face of the revived Urdu-Hindi controversy in
northern India. The different organisations, such as the Anjuman-i-
Punjab, the Lahore Singh Sabha, Indian Association and the Arya
Samaj had actually been drawn into these deepening educational and
language controversies. The question of language was linked up
with ‘nationality’ issue. But the ‘nationality’ was identified with
community based upon religion. Communal bodies (Bhasha Pracharni
Sabhas) were formed to champion the cause of this or that language.

90. Ibid., Oct. 5, 27, 1881; The Tribune, Lahore, August 27, 1881.

91. The Tribune, Lahore, August 27, 1881.

92. On Octber 23, 1881, The Tribune reads :

The Sabha is a creature of Dr Leitner. The Doctor was at one time its
president and laid the few un-educated Sikhs who are its members under a
deep obligation by establishing a class in his Oriental College for the prepara-
tion of Bhais or Sikh priests and by making arrangements for the worship of
Granth Sahib in t he college premises with flowers and karrah par sad. Some
of the leading members of the Sabha again are servants of Dr Leitner’s College.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

If the Anjuman-i-Islamia, Lahore, demanded Urdu, the Arya Samaj
and Brahmo Samaj agitated for Hindi. Panjabi was rejected by all
save Leitner and the Singh Sabha.

The language was seen as a vehicle of communal solidarity at
the intra-community level. Leitner showed in 1883, how the different
sections among the Hindus had come together to from Hindi
ag'tation. 93

If the Hindi demand was a manifestation of the Hindu aspirations
for social and political consolidation of Hindu community, the Sikh
demand for Panjabi in the Gurmukhi script was based upon the Sikh
view that “from the development of their sacred language, not only
educational, but also social and physical benefits are expected to
flow.” 91

Unfortunately, Leitner did not stop just there. He had been
working for the recognition of the Sikhs as a community with a
religion separate from that of the Hindus, and he had successfully
established the identification of Panjabi in the Gurmukhi script as
the sacred language of the Sikhs. This religio-linguistic separatism
which was to find expression by the ideology of the Singh Sabha,
Lahore, was informed through the Oriental College.

Leitner had a communal approach to language and nationality 96
as is clear from his interpretation of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi in his
own way. For this reason he could not and did not question the
process of communal isat ion of language issue set into motion by the
Brahmo Samaj on behalf of the Hindus, and by Sayyid Ahmed Khan’s
Aligarh Movement on behalf of the Muslims in north India.

This is clear from Leitner’s advice to the Government to streng-
then the Sikhs through education as the pillars of the Empire. The
advice also provides a key to the political theory underlying Punjab
education policy. This theory can be understood better in the
background of the rise of a politically conscious student community
in Lahore. We have already referred to the student meetings and the
interpretation of these meetings by the imperialist press. According
to this interpretation, loyalty to the British was the part of the ‘Sikh
national character.’ However, the Sikh educated youth was loosing
this characteristic by learning ‘agitationary principles’ as indicated
by Bhai Ditt Singh’s participation in students’ movement against the

93. G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in Punjab, Patiala, 1971, pp. 47-48.

94. Leitner, op. cit., p. 33.

95. Ibid., p, 36.

VOL. XX VI-1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

government. The existing system of government education was seen
as causing this deviation by depressing religious sentiments. This
system of education was leading to both apostasy and disloyalty. A
different education aimed at checking this twin evil of apostasy and
disloyalty was the need of the hour. This ‘new education’ was to be
partly religious and was to be imparted by the community itself.
For this the community was to be encouraged for opening its own
educational institutions. It was this interpretation which served as
the basis of Singh Sabha ideology, particularly its demand for Khalsa
educational institutions and ‘Sikh national education.’

The Lahore Singh Sabha held a two day conference on 31st
January and the 1st February, 1885, to celebrate its anniversary.
The conference was held at the Shiksha Hall, Lahore. The Hall was
decorated with “loyalty, strength, knowledge, improvement shown
in golden letters from four flags.” 96 On the first day, it was addressed
by Bai Jawahir Singh, Vice-President, Lahore Arya Samaj, by Bhai
Nikka Singh, a clerk in the Civil and Military Gazette, by G.W.
Leitner and M.A. Macauliffe.

Bhai Jawahir Singh made “an appeal to other classes of the
people who he said had left the Sikhs behind in the race of progress
to help the latter out of their present ignorant condition... ,” 97

About Leitner’s role in the conference. The Tribune observed. :

The promise of Dr Leitner to help the Sikh movement in the
Panjab University at his own expense, if the University did
not take it up, was very graciously held-out and was reported
more than once. The Sikhs might feel much obliged to the
Doctor for it and may well entertain a hope that it may not
remain unredeemed. But will the Senate agree to the
University being turned a place for the propagation of
sectarian teachings ? 98

On 1 8th February, Singh Sabha, Sialkot held its annual conference
which was attended by 4000 people including the Europeans, Leitner
was the main speaker on the occasion. The Sabha decided to start a
Khalsa School. 99

A few week later, the Khalsa Diwan Lahore, presented the
following address to the Viceroy :

96. The Tribune, Lahore, February 7, 1885.

97. Ibid.

98. Ibid.

99. Ibid., Feb. 28, 1858.

COLONIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB, 1865-1885

The object of our Khalsa Diwan, together with its subordi-
nate local Sikh societies, is to enlighten, improve and
reform our community, which is in a backward state from an
educational and religious point of view.

In order to give a practical shape to our efforts we are about
to establish a national institution in which instruction will be
imparted based upon religion and morality, and in which
Science, Arts and Agriculture will also be taught.

The movement has become now truely a national one, the
enlightened Raja Bikrama Singh of Faridkot, his Highness
the Raja of Kapurthala, an influential Sikh religious Head,
Baba Khem Singh EIE and prominent Sikh chiefs such as
Sardar Bikrama Singh CSI, Sardar Attar Singh C1E, Sardar
Man Singh, Sardar Sujan Singh and others have consented to
become patrons. Vice-patrons and presidents respectively of
our Association, and Lahore societies, each in his own sphere,
to help the national cause and we hope that other chiefs will
also follow their good example. 100

But still the Diwan would, says the address, need ‘the advice and
aid of our parental government.’ 101 The Diwan was also thankful to
its European supporters, especially ‘our old friend. Dr G.W.
Leitner.’ 108 The address marked the beginnings of the Khalsa College
Amritsar Movement.

100. Ibid., April 18, 1885.

101. Ibid.

102. Ibid.

The Most Controversial Sikh Coin

Surinder Singh*

The coin struck in the name of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia from
Lahore in 1758 or 1761 has been the most controversial Sikh coin,
more so because no such coin is forthcoming. The controversy on this
coin started fairly soon after its striking, which has been picked up
by almost every historian of Sikh history and every numismatist
studying Sikh coins. The real significance of this coin at this stage
does not lay in its having been struck or not, whether it was struck
with Jassa Singh’s approval or otherwise; whether it was a mischief
played by the local qazis and mullahs to instigate the Afghan invader
against the Sikhs or a presentation of 21 coins as a nazrana presented
by the noted citizens to the Sikh Commander for withholding his
forces from sacking the town as has been the wont of every conqueror;
whether it was momentary euphoria of the victorious Sikh army over
the capture of Lahore after a period of nearly 750 years of foreign
occupation. 1 The real importance of this coin as well as the
controversy thereon lay in its contribution to the exposition of the
concept of Sikh sovereignty as held in the second half of eighteenth
century of which these coins have been the most representative
symbol.

By the mid eighteenth century, large areas in Panjab had come
under Sikh domination. They had organised themselves into a
regular force under the leadership of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. 2
As a matter of fact, the Sikhs had evolved a loose confederacy.
They set up mud-forts and fortresses all over Panjab, especially
in the midst of Sikh population as rallying centres to organise
their operations. 3 They had also errected a number of such forts
in the Himalayan foothills as places of refuge in the case of
Afghan persecution. 4 Their system of ‘collection of Rakhi’ had

*2119, 15-C, Chandigarh.

1. Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, Delhi, 1978, p. 174.

2. Ibid., p. 90.

3. Ibid., p. 165.

4. Ibid., Percival Spear, The Oxford History of Modern India, Oxford, 1965,

p. 166.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SIKH COIN

become a far more effective means of revenue collection receiving
better and willing response from cultivators and zamindars than that of
the farmers of revenue collection for Mughal and Afghan rulers. 5 6
The entire Panjab was virtually under control of the Sikhs and the
time was ripe for their occupation of the State capital, Lahore and
assumption of fullfledged sovereignty. Sikhs had helped Adina Beg
in expelling Afghans from their outposts. They had attacked Timur
Shah near Sanaur and relieved him of half of his treasure and again
attacked him at Malerkotla. 8 They had also attacked the retreating
flanks and bagagge train of Ahmed Shah Abdali at Goindwal ferry on
Beas river, where they resued a large, number of captive men and
women and sent them to their homes. 7

Ahmad Shah after defeating Marathas at'the famous third battle
of Panipat in January 1761, left for Aghanistan in May 1761 leaving
Khawaja Obed Khan Governor of Lahore and Zain Khan, Governor
of Sarhind. Immediately after Ahmed Shah’s departure, Sikhs
started occupying areas under Afghan Governors. Mirza Khan
incharge of Char Mahal came out to fight the Sikh forces but was
defeated and killed. 8 Bikram Khan of Malerkotla was defeated and
the town sacked. On receipts of these disturbing news, Ahmed Shah
sent a trusted general Nur-ud-D in with a well trained force to chastise
the Sikhs, but was defeated at Sialkot by Charat Singh, from where
he fled back leaving his army at the mercy of Sikh forces. 9 Khawaja
Obed Khan invaded Gujranwala in September 1761 and laid siege of
the fort. In the meantime other Sardars came to the help of Charat
Singh and in turn besieged Obed Khan. Obed Khan made a hasty
retreat leaving behind huge quantity of arms and ammunitions,
camels, horses and other camp equipment to the Sikhs. 10 Thus, in a
short span of about four months, Sikhs had subdued all the Afghan
chiefs set up by Ahmed Shah and practically the entire Panjab was
again under their control.

In October 1761, Sikhs assembled at Amritsar to celebrate
Diwali. They held a meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa wherein they passed

5. James Rennell, Memoir of a Map of Hindustan, London, p. cxxi; James Browne,
“History of the Origin and Progress of Sikhs” in India Tracts, London, 1787,
p. VII.

6. Hari Ram Gupta, op. cit., pp. 138, 144.

7. Ibid., p. 168. *

8. Tahmas Khan Miskin, Tazkiraha Tahmas Miskin, 1780 quoted by Hari Ram
Gupta, op. cit., p. 237.

9. Hari Ram Gupta, op. cit., p. 171.

10. Ibid., p. 173.

VOL. XXVM

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

a gurumata to punish Aqil Das of Jandiala and occupy Lahore in
order to establish their supremacy all over Panjab. 11 Sikhs marched
to Lahore under the leadership of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and laid
siege of the city. Ofced Khan, the Governor shut himself in the fort
and would not face the Sikh forces. He was later got killed in a
skirmish with the Sikhs. The leading citizens appreciating the
weakness of the Governor and after negociating with the Sikh
Commander, opened the city gates to the Sikh forces, thus saving the
city from sack and plunder. The Sikhs in the joy of having captured
Lahore are said to have seized the royal • mint and struck a rupee
with the legend.

Sikka zad dar jehan bafazal e-Akal
Mulk-e- Ahmad gariftlJassa Kalal , 12
The coin struck in the world by the grace of Akal in the country
of Ahmad captured by Jassa Kalal.

Besides the striking of the said coin, its date is also being
disputed. James Browne has stated that Sikhs expelled Timur Shah
and Jehan Khan frcm Lahore, occupied the city and struck a coin in
the name of their leader Jassa Singh Ahluwalia in 1758. 13 Browne
has based his account in Risala-i-Nanak which he received from Budh
Singh Arora and Ajaib Singh of Malerkotla 14 whom he met in Delhi
in 1783, during his stay at the Mughal court from 1782 to 1785. 1 ® A
number of later historians viz. Lt. Col. Malcolm, Elphinstone,

11. Ibid., Aqil Das of Jandiala was the Guru of a dissenting sect of Niranjanis,
whose ancestors were Sikhs, but he was vehmently opposed to them and had
been always aiding the enemies of Sikhs- He had invited Ahmad Shah and
given clue of the location of the Sikh camp to the Afghans.

12. Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, Khazana-i-Amira (1762-63), 1871, pp. 113-14.

13. James Brown, op. cit., p. VII.

14. Both Hari Ram Gupta and Ganda Singh have stated that Budh Singh and Ajaib
Singh were natives of Lahore. Browne met them at Delhi in 1783 and persuaded
them to let him have a translation thereof in Persian Language, abridging it
as much as possible without injuring its essential purpose of information.
Browne considered it extremely defective in the regular continuation of dates
and thus not deserving to b e called an historical account

15. James Browne was sent by Warren Hastings, in 1782, to Lucknow to meet
Nawab Vazir Aoof-ud-Daula and thereafter proceed to Mughal court at Delhi
with his recommendations to watch the interests of British East India Company.
Warren Hastings left India in Feb. 1785 and immediately thereafter Browne
was recalled by the acting Governor General. It was during this stay of about
three years that Browne came in contact with Budh Singh and Ajaib Singh and
wrote his account of Sikhs upto March 1785 and the same was published
in 1787.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SIKH COIN

Cunningham, Latif, Narang etc, 16 have based their accounts on the
observations made by Jame’s Browne without having put forth any
new or contemporary evidence. A serious scholar of history states
that in 1758 Panjab was leased out to Adena Beg by the Marathas for
an annual tribute of seventy five lakhs 17 and Sikhs could not have
assumed control of the State Capital, Lahore. He assigns the date
for the said event as November 1761. 18 In November 1760, ten
thousand Sikhs had invaded Lahore but had left after receiving a
nazrana of thirty thousand rupees from the Governor of Lahore for
‘Karah Parshad.’ 19 He primarily bases his inference on Ghulam Ali
Khan Azad’s account Khazana-e-Amira written in 1762-63 deeming it
to be the most reliable record. It has been stated therein that Sikhs
killed the Durrani Governor of Lahore, captured the capital and
issued this coin. Tt was due to these doings of the Sikhs that Ahmad
Shah invaded India in early 1762 and inflicted a severe defeat on the
Sikhs, massacring about 12000 Sikhs. 20 N.K. Sinha does npt accept
tin above evidence as satisfactory. Taking into account all the
facts of the past few years, we are inclined to agree with Hari Ram
Gupta that the date of striking the said coin in all probability should
be taken as late as 1761 and not 1758 as recorded by Browne and
others. However this aspect is a very minor part of the controversy.

The real issue is the striking of the said coin by Jassa Singh
Ahluwalia. The various viewpoints have been taken into account
for a proper analysis of the issue. James Browne states in 1767 that
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia commander of the Sikh army expelled the
amildars of Ahmad Shah from the city and Subah of Lahore, became
so popular that he ventured to strike rupees at the mint of Lahore in
his own name. 21 But after these had been current for fifteen years
the ‘grand diet’ of the Sikh chiefs called ‘gurmata’ determined to call
in all those rupees to strike them in the name of Guru Nanak and

16. John Malcolm, Sketch of the Sikhs, Reprint, Chandigarh, 1981. p. 75; Elphins-
tone, An Account of the Kingdom oj Kabul, Vol. II, London, 1815, p. 289; J.D.
Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, Reprint, New Delhi, 1972. p 89; Seyed
Mohd. Latif, History oj Panjab, Reprint, Ludhiana, 1989, p. 230; G.C. Narang,
Transformation of the Sikhs, Lahore, 1912, p. 236.

17. Hari Ram Gupta, op.cit., pp. 144^45, 173.

18- Hari Ram Gupta, ‘‘The First Sikh Coin of Lahore,” in Proceedings of Indian
History Congress, 1938, p. 430.

19. Ibid., pp. 167-68.

20. Ghulam Ali Khan Azad, op.cit., p. 114

21. Ganda Singh, “History of Origin and Progress of Sikhs” by James Browne, in
Indian Studies Past and Present, Vol. II, 1960-61, p. 555.

VOL. XXVI-I

the panjab past and present

APRIL 1992

Guru Gobind Singh. 22 He further states that he had several of these
coins in his possession. 28

Firstly Browne’s presumption that coin was struck in 1758 does
not seem to be correct. Secondly, his statement that ‘grand Diet’
withdrew it after 15 years of its circulation has not been supported by
any evidence. The Sarbat Khalsa dfd decide in 1765 to occupy
Lahore and strike a coin in the name of the Gurus as a symbol of
sovereignty. Had the said coin been in circulation even for seven
years, its withdrawl would have got mention in the gurmata of 1765.
Browne’s dates arc therefore primafacie in-correct. It has been
universally admitted by all historians that in the prevailing circum-
stances only small number of coins would have been struck. The
occupation of Lahore by Sikhs was for a few months in 1758 and
Ahmad Shah had again come in 1759. The Sikh Commonwealth had
no mechanism of withdrawing such coins more so when Lahore was
not under their occupation from 1758 to 1765, even otherwise they
could have withheld further striking of the said coin but could not
have withdrawn the coins already struck and issued. Browne’s
statement that several of these coins were in. his possession seems to be
a figment of imagination. It is unbelievable that he could secure
several of these coins in 1783-85 from Delhi, when the hobby of coin
collection had not even been started and these few odd coins could
not have reached Delhi in large numbers so that Browne could collect
several of these. Even if we believe his word, he was immediately
thereafter recalled and went back to England. He certainly would not
have thrown away these coins and some of them would certainly have
entered the collections of various museums in Europe, but none such
coin has been located anywhere in the world. James Browne’s
account is at best a presumption only without any authentic evidence
in support thereof.

Hari Ram Gupta, is most emphatic in his assertion that coins
were struck by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia in 1761. He has stated “that
in a fit of enthusiasm and delight the Sikhs fulfilled the wishes of their
revered leader Late Nawab Kapur Singh by declaring Jassa Singh
Ahluwalia as Padshah, then seizing the royal mint they struck the first
Sikh rupee. ...it translated their ideal into actuality and fulfilled the
prophecy of the last Guru.... In the heat of the passion of having
attained this glory, after hardest struggle for more than half a
century, bubbling over with their success and flushed with the pride

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid., p. 581; N.K. Sinha, Rise of Sikh Power, Calcutta, 1973, p. 55,

TH6 MOST CONTROVERSIAL SIKH CION

of victory, they let them pass beyond the bounds of reason and thus
they glorified the victor who had led them from one conquest to
another for about a dozen years past. That the mistakes, made in the
highest excitement of the hour, was realised in sane, cooler and calmer
moments is evident beyond all doubts .” 21 There is, of course, the
contemporary account of Khazana-e- Amira which does lend support
to his assertion. Hari Ram Gupta has taken greater shelter under strong
emotional words rather than hard evidence. His reference to the
wishes of late Kapur Singh and prophesy of Guru Gobind Singh are
irrelevant to the issue and are no evidence. His assertion that it was
due to the momentary jubilation takes away most of the authority
behind the said coin and it also stands partially destroyed in his own
words when he deems it to be against the Sikh ethos and the concept
that sovereignty belonged to the Khalsa and no single individual. He
has locked horns with N.K. Sinha in a rather impleasant debate , 26
which has been denied by N.K. Sinha . 28

Hari Ram Gupta has said, “The Sikhs seem to doubt as to the
striking of these coins because no Sikh writer except Gian Singh has
mentioned this fact in his work .” 27 He thereafter constructs half a
dozen imaginary doubts and then tries to demolish them with his
arguments . 28 This attempt has been rather uncharitable on his part.
Certain Sikh historians viz. S.S. Bal, G.S. Chhabra, have also shared
H.R. Gupta’s views . 29 Any further discussion of Hari Ram Gupta’s
doubts is not necessary and would not contribute to the solution of
the controversy. In the absence of any such coin having been located,
Khazana-e-Amiras ’ evidence, which does not mention the legend
cannot be taken as authentic and final, as instances do exist where
such like contemporary evidence has proved to be incorrect. A
contemporary, Ahmad Yadgar stated that before the second battle of
Panipat, Hemu threw off his allegiance to his master Adil Shah and
struck coins in his own name. No such coin has survived and in the
light of modern research Ahmad Yadgar’s statement stands

24. Hari Ram Gupta, op.cit., pp. 428, 432.

25. Ibid., footnote; p. 431.

26. N.K. Sinha, op.cit. p. 55. “It must be admitted that it is difficult to deny the
fact of coinage, and I have nowhere done it.’ But even if these coins were
struck, would it be proper to assert that they were authorised official issues of
the Sikh commonwealth ?

27. Hari Ram Gu pta, op.cit., p. 431.

28. Ibid., p. 431.

29. S.S. Bal, ‘The Sikh Struggle for Independence and the place of Sovereignty
in Sikh Polity” in the Medivial Indian State, Chandigarh. 1968, p. 128;

G.S. Chhabra, Advanced History of Punjab, Vol. I. Jalandhar, 1968, p. 639.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

disproved. 30 A news writer of Jaipur court wrote in 1710 that Sikhs
under Banda Bahadur made a seal with the legend. 31

Azmat-i-Guru Nanak, ham zahir-o-ham batin ast, Badshah-i-din-
o-duniya ap Sacha Sahib ast.

Another contemporary account Haqiqat-e- Aqalim 32 by Murtaza
Hussain states that Banda Bahadur struck coins with he above legend,
whereas the actual seal imprint and a few coins of Banda Bahadur that
have been located use different legends 33 and hence both the above two
accounts stand disproved. In view of the above instances, the account
in Khazana-e-Amira u cannot be heavily leaned upon to establish the
striking of the coin by Jassa Singh and the contention of Hari Ram
Gupta cannot be given any more authenticity beyond its also being a
presumption only.

Ganesh Das Badhera in Chahar Bagh-i-Panjab 36 written in 1849
states that local qazis and mullahs struck 21 such coins and sent them
to Ahmad Shah to instigate him against the Sikhs. Ganesh Das has
not given any contemporary evidence in support thereof and thus, it
is another presumption only. Later historians have taken his view
into account in further thrashing the controversy but have not made
any new contribution there to. Khushwaqt Rai in Kitab-i-Tarikh-i-
Panjab 36 written in 1811, states that the coin enjoyed a short span of
life because its circulation was stopped on account of the contempt
held by Sikhs in the use of half name of their leaders which was
imprinted on the coin. This statement too has no contemporary
evidence in support thereof. It is a rehash of Browne’s view with
some modification. Ahmad Yadgar, in his Tarikh-i-Salatin-i-Afghana 2,7
written in 1835 has stated that Sikhs felt distressed on the credit of
their victory being given to an individual and not to the Gurus.
Consequently they stopped the circulation of the said coin and struck

30. N.K. Sinna, op.cit., p. 55.

31. ‘Akhbar-at-i-Darbar-i-Muala,’ Old Historical Records, Jaipur account dated
6th July, 1710, p. 39.

32. Murtaza Hussain, Haqiqat-e-Aqalim Aligarh, p. 148.

33. The seal imprint bear the legend ‘Deg Teg Fateh’ adopted on Sikh coins in
1765 and onwards and the legend on the few rupees traced so far is that of
‘Sikka Zad bar har do alam’ adopted on Amritsar rupee of 1775 and onwards.

34. Khazana-e-Amira, (As above in f.n. 20)

35. “Risala-e-Sahib Nama,” p. 210 quoted by Hari Ram Gupta, op.cit., p 178.

36. Khushwaqt Rai, “Kitab-i-Tarikh-i-Panjab,” folio 104, quoted by Hari Ram
Gupta, History of the Sikhs, op. cit., p. 177.

37. Yadgar Ahmad, “Tarikh-i-Salatin-e-Afghana,” p. 173, quoted by Hari Ram
Gupta, op. cit., p. 177.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SIKH COIN

another coin in the name of their Gu rus. He has not cited any
contemporary evidence in support thereof. The account of Khushwaqt
Rai and Ahmad Yadgar suffer from the same infirmity as that of
Browne in the withdrawl of the said coin by the Sikh authorities.

Ganda Singh, another noted historian of Sikhs, has written a
detailed biography of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, 38 but has not paid
necessary attention to the controversy over this coin. He has brushed
aside the same as not deserving any further discussion in view of the
disinclination of the Sikhs to the use of half name for any Sardar.
Lepel Griffin 39 in his book Rajas of Punjab written in 1865 has stated
that these coins must have been struck in very small numbers. He
further states that Raja of Kapurthala does not possess any such coin,
nor could he contact any one who had seen this coin. The matter
was taken up with the present head of Kapurthala house Brig. Sukhjit
Singh. He has, stated in 1980 that “with regards to the coins pur-
ported to have been struck by Baba Jassa Singh, there was, to the best
of my knowledge, one such coin in the former Kapurthala treasury.” 40
The said coin is no longer traceable with the succe ssor Panjab Govern-
ment. This only creates doubts on Griffin’s assertion and does not
lead us nearer to any solution.

Taking into account the prevailing situation in its various aspects,
a presumption, not taken into account so far by any historian strikes
our mind. In late 1761, the Sikhs had besieged the Lahore city and
the Governor had locked himself in the fort and there being no oppos-
ing forces, the fall of the city to the Sikhs was imminent. Keeping
in view the sack of the city, a general wont of the conquerers for
plunder, the leading citizens started negociations with the Sikh
commander and opened the city gates to the Sikh forces thus saving
the city from ruinations.

In November 1750 also, about 10,000 Sikhs had besieged the city
of Lahore and Mir Mohammad, the Governor shut himself in the fort.
Sikhs had cut off all means of communications and were going to
breach the city walls. The fall of the city and its sack by the Sikhs
having become imminent, the leading citizens persuaded the Governor
to pay 30,000 rupees from the state revenues to the Sikhs for ‘Kar ah

38. Ganda Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Patiala, 1990, p. 110.

39. Lepel Griffin, Rajas of Panjab, Patiala, 1970 (re- print), p. 461.

40. Sikhjit Singh Brig, his letter dated 20th May, 1980 in reply to author’s letter
dated 21st March, 1980 over the existence of Jassa Singh’s coin with the
Kapurthala family.

VOL. XXVI-I

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APRIL 1992

Parshad’ and thus persuaded the Sikh forces to withdraw the siege. 41
Cash nazranas wculd have been paid to the victorious Sikh army as
was the practice in those times. It is our presumption that the
leading citizens might have struck 21 coins as a token of their
gratitute and acceptance of the suzerainty of the great Sikh comm-
ander over the city. The number twenty one is considered auspicious
for non-Muslims and has no meaning for Muslims. The legend is in
fair confirmity to the existing Mughal and Afghan legends on their
coins, wherein use of half names has been a common practice. The
couplet seems to be the work of a Mughal mint master and quite
appropriate to the occasion and its likely violation of Sikh traditions
may not have been in the knowledge of the mint officials. Jassa
Singh would have accepted the coins and would have got them
broken up later on. In a similar case Sultan Muhammad Khan bin
Musa Khan has stated in his Tarikh-i-Sultani that Shah Shujah got
a presentation coin in honour of Alexander Burnes and the British
East India Company with the couplet :

“ Sikka zad bar sim-o-tilla Shah Shujah Armini,

Nur-i-chashm Lord Burnes khak-i-pa Kampani”
meaning that coins of silver and gold were struck by Shah Shujah,
the Arminian, the light of the eyes of Lord Burnes and the dust under
the foot of the Company. Shah Shujah was the protege of the
British and was being set up as the ruler of Afghanistan with the
protection of the British forces sent under Alexander Burnes (assiss-
inated by the rebel Afghans in 1841 at Kabul). The coin was obviously
struck to please and humour Alexander Burnes and the British in a
manner most derogatory and humiliating to the sovereign Afghan
king. 42 In another somewhat similar situation Allard presented fifty
silver coins to Ranjit Singh on Dessehra festival in 1836 which he
had got made while on leave in France and these coins bore Ranjit
Singh’s name and title of ‘wali of Panjab.’ 43 Ranjit Singh accepted
these coins and got them broken up as being violative of Sikh tradi-
tions. Hence it is quite likely that the leading citizens got these coins
prepared from the royal mint as a nazrana to the Sikh commander and

41. Hari Ram Gupta, op. cit., p. 167.

42. Sultan Muhammad Khan bin Musa Khan Durrani, “Tarikh-i-Sultani,” quoted
by Hans Herrli in his manuscript “The coins of the Sikhs’ ’ from an article of
C.J. Rodgers published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal
Vol. 57, No. 1 (1888).

43. Jatti Ram Gupta, “Dusehra Festival in Panjab during Sikh Rule 1800-1849.’’
in Sikh Review, 1970, pp. 41-43.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SIKH COIN

with the passage of time the story got different hues and colours.
This presumption seems to be more apropriate than the rest.

The most analytical and articulate assessment has been made
by N.K. Sinha where he is unable to dispute with certainty the
striking of the coin; he is quite convinced that Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
would never have: struck coins in his own name in violation of the
Sikh traditions and concept of Sikh sovereignty. The idea that Jassa
Singh imprinted on the coins of the IChalsa “Mulk-i-Ahmed grift
Jassa Kalal ” is highly absurd and absolutely unlikely. 44 The theocratic
zeal and democratic spirit were far too deep rooted to allow any
individual to do such a highly objectionable thing. Sikh democracy
was such a living force in those days of Sikh struggle against Durranis,
that no Sikh, howsoever highly placed, would dare flout the Khalsa in
such a way. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, the ideal democratic leader,
conspicous for his spirit of self sacrifice was too faithful a follower
of the commonwealth and too whole-souled a patriot to attempt to
distinguish himself in a way so revolting to a Sikh. 45 Khushwant Singh
has not given any cognisance to the striking of the said coin and
makes only a passing reference thereto. He speaks of the 1765 coins
in the name of Gurus having been issued on the victorious entry of
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia at the head of Khalsa forces in Lahore city. 48

The chances of tracing out the said Coin are becoming more and
more extinct with the passage of time and the controversy of its having
been struck or not amounts to the flogging of a dead horse and is a
purposeless exercise from numismatic perspective. The true position
can be ascertained only if any of the conflicting views finds its
reflection from the actual coin, which unfortunately is not forthcoming,
and hence the truth is perforce remaining ellusive and the effort in its
realisation going in vain.

All the historians who subscribe to the striking of the coin by
Jassa Singh, appear to entertain a certain apprehension over its
authenticity, which has resulted in the follow up account regarding its
so called withdrawl by the Sikh commonwealth for one reason or the
other. They seem to be reluctant to ignore a juicy ancedote regarding
an extremely colourful event of Sikh hereoic struggle and thus fail to
test it on the touchstone of Sikh traditions and concept of Sikh
sovereignty. It is praise worthy of N.K. Sinha to find it wanting

44. N.K. Sinha, op. cit., p. 54,

45. Ibid., p. 55.

46. Khuswant Singh, A History of Sikhs, Vol. I, Delhi, 1987, pp. 152-53.

VOL. XXVI-I

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APRIL 1992

when measured in the balance of Sikh ethos and thus rejecting it as an
unlikely and an absurd proposition. Even if for argument sake, we
accept Hari Ram Gupta’s contention that it was an action taken in
euphoria of victory and without proper reasoning and thus had to be
undone, it has to be treated as a momentary aberration on the body
politics or an exception to prove the rule, that the Sikh sovereignty
belonged to the Khalsa Panth as a sacred trust bequethed to them by
their Gurus and no Sardar nor even the aclaimed leader of the Dal
Khalsa could make any pretention to it, much less, assuming it. This
type of aberrations have been mentioned in Sikh history regarding
Ranjit Singh having struck coins in the name of Moran or Hari Singh
Nalwa having struck coins in his own name, but both of them have
been found incorrect on detailed historical analysis and numismatic
investigation thereof.

The objections like half name of a Sikh Sardar being objection-
able have neither any basis nor any weight therein, as half names are
common occurances even in Sikh poetic literature. A very pertinent
question as to whether these coins were the authorised issues of the
Khalsa commonwealth remains unanswered in all the historical
accounts. From the above analysis of the controversy it becomes
abundantly clear, that there existed an unmistaken able and persistent
trend in Sikh polity during the period of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and
thereafter that sovereignty belonged to the entire Khalsa Panth and
its principal symbol, the coins could not struck in anybody’s name,
howsoever mighty he may be, other than their Gurus, who had be-
queathed the same to the Khalsa Panth. This controversy therefore
indirectly conrributes to the inherent strength and exposition of the
concept of Sikh sovereignty.

Progressive Aptitude of the Punjab Peasantry
Under British Rule 1849-1901

Sukhwant Singh*

In the fifties of the nineteenth century the peasent-proprietors of
the Punjab began switching from traditional ways of cultivation to
advanced techniques- and commercialisation of agriculture. They
adopted the improved varieties of the traditional crops and imple-
ments, appropriated new crops and implements in small quantities
and increased the output steadily. The peasant-proprietors were more
interested in the agricultural improvements than the non-cultivating
proprietors and the tenants. 1 The agriculturists in general and the
peasant-proprietors in particular gradually shifted from the relative
subsistence to the commercial cultivation in response to the new
market forces coming in the wake of the development of transport-
ation, irrigation, higher prices of agricultural produce and high
yielding varieties. The liberalisation of the tariff policy of the govern-
ment led to a flourishing external trade in agricultural produce.

The Punjab heavily contributed to the growth of the agricultural
exports of India. The major contribution of the Punjab was in
wheat, oil-seeds and cotton. Their production was directly governed
by the conditions of the European market. When favourable prices
were anticipated the area under their cultivation was increased. 2 The
Indian wheat in the 1870’s was beginning to be greatly demanded in
the European markets. Its demand increased steadily especially in
England, France and Belgium. 3 It was second only to the Australian

* Lecturer in History, Guru Nariafc Dev University, Amritsar.

1. This was established by an inquiry into the standard of cultivation in the lands
cultivated by the peasant-proprietors and the tenants. The inquiry was conducted
by the Deparment of Co-operation through the inspectors of the co-operative
societies in the beginning of the twentieth century. H. Calvert, The Wealth and
Welfare of the Punjab : Being Some Studies in Punjab Rural Economics, Lahore,
1922, pp. 89-95.

2. George Watt, Memorandum on the Se-sources of British India, n.p.c. 1894, p. 2.

3. In 1882-83 India exported 14.2 million cwts. of wheat. Of this England
purchased 6.6 million, France 3.6 million and Belgium 1.4 million cwts : Govern-
ment of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture :
Agriculture, February 1881, Nos. 1-4.

VOL. XXVI -I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

wheat. 1 The average annual exports of grains and pulses from the
Punjab for the five years ending 1877-78 stood at 45,16,490 maunds.
Of this wheat alone was 10,17*306 maunds while the remaining
34,99,184 maunds consisted of inferior grains and pulses. 4 5 6 The
province made rapid strides as a wheat exporting region with the
opening of the Sirhind Canal in 1882 and Chenab Canal in 1889. By
the end of the nineteenth century the wheat production of the Punjab
became an appreciable factor in the World’s wheat market. With a
maximum annual export of over 11,00,000 tons by 1910 the Punjab
became the largest contributor towards the total wheat export of
India. 8 The constantly increasing demand for oil-seeds especially
from France, England and Belgium gave great stimulus also to their
production. The Punjab supplied more than 25 per cent of the
exports of rapeseed and mustard exported from India between 1886-87
and 1888-89. 7

The Punjab came to be known as a country of wheat. In 1877
more than one thousand samples of Indian wheat were professionally
examined in England under the direction of Forbes Watson, an
agricultural expert. A comprehensive report on the results was sub-
sequently submitted . A certain number on the best Indian samples
were estimated at a value equal to the better kinds of Australian and
American wheat. It was admitted that many parts of India adopted
the cultivation of wheat of the finest quality. Forbes Watson found
it difficult to reconcile this fact to the image of the Indian agriculturist
in which one often heard of his ignorance and carelessness and the
unchanging modes of his cultivation. He had no doubt about the
existence of a numerous class of agriculturists all over India to whom
such a reproach could not apply. It was impossible to avoid the
conclusion that the cultivators who grew wheat as good as to the finest
Australian wheat were keenly alive to the advantages of selection of
seed and of careful cultivation; they were as good as the most

4. E.C. Schrottky, The Principles of Rational Agriculture Applied to India and
its Staple Products, Bombay, 1876, pp. 203-04.

5. It is interesting to note the annual average of agricultural exports from the
Punjab down the Indus registered at Mithankot from 1861-62 to 1867-68 was
only 4,80,242 maunds : Punjab Report in Reply to the Inquiries Issued by the
Famine Commission, Vol. I, Lahore, 1878-79, p. 104.

6 . W.'C. Renouf, The Cultivation of Stronger and More Valuable Wheats for
Export from the Punjab, Lahore, 1910, p. 2.

7. Report on the Land Revenue Administration of the Punjab and Its Dependencies

for the Year 1860-61 (cited hereafter as PLRAR 1860-61), Lahore, 1861, pp.
164-65, and Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue
and Agriculture : Agriculture, January 1891, No. 22.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

intelligent English farmers.* . _

The growth of export trade in cotton increased the acreage under
cotton crop, particularly from 1860-61 onwards. The export of cotton
in different years varied between one-fourth and one-half of the total
production. In the pre-American Civil War period cotton cultivation
was confined to about three lac acres. 9 In 1864-65, to meet the
excessive foreign demand about nine lac acres were placed under
cotton. In 1866-67, due to less demand the area under cotton
declined to about six lac acres. Due to the steadily growing demand
the annual area under cotton from 1894-95 to 1900-01 averaged
around eleven lac acres. 10

The rising export trade in agricultural produce induced the
peasant-proprietors to adopt new crops and techniques. They took
to cultivating the pure quality seed to get good prices. 11 The high-
yielding varieties of wheat proved so profitable that the area under
wheat and cotton cultivation increased both by the replacement of
less remunerative crops and by bringing new area under cultivation 12
W.C. Renouf, Director of Agriculture, Punjab, noticed that in
response to the milling revolution in Europe the Punjab cultivators
started to grow stronger wheats for which there was an active pre-
ferential demand. 13 Also, they fairly generally resorted to weeding,
hoeing, sowing in lines, use of pure seed and improved implements.
The rotation of crops became more or less scientific. 14

Agrarian changes in the Punjab during the period of British rule
varied considerably both in terms of time and space. There was
differentiation in the growth of area under irrigation and cultivation
as well as in that under different harvests and crops. The rate of
development varied from locality to locality. In the already thickly

8. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Home, Revenue and
Agriculture : Agriculture and Horticulture, January 1880, No. 62.

9. PLRAR, 1860-61, pp. 157-58.

10. Himadri Banerjee Agrarian Society of the Punjab 1849-1901, New Delhi, 1982,
pp. 57-63 and 72-74.

11. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and
Agriculture : Agriculture, February 1884, Nos. 1-4; Ibid., January 1906, No. 1;
and PLRAR, 1860-61, p. v.

12. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Home, Revenue and
Agriculture : Agriculture and Horticulture, January 1880, No. 62.

13. W.C. Renouf, op. cit., p. 10.

14. PLRAR, 1860-61, p. v; and Land Revenue Settlement Report of the Rakh Branch
Circle, 1940, pp. 13-14.

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

populated areas, the percentage of growth was generally high in the
early years of British rule and less towards the turn of the century.
In the early decades of our period, the government measures like the
construction of the Upper Bari Doab Canal, Sirhind Canal, remo-
delling of the Western Jamna Canal and the expansion of railways
and roads, were concentrated in this region which helped in bringing
bulk of the remaining culturable land under cultivation. This region
comprising largely of the eastern plains had thus nearly reached the
saturation point in terms of its population and extent of cultivation,
and its subsequent growth of agriculture was rather slow. 15 In many
arid districts, prior to the expansion of irrigation, the cultivated area
increased in the years of favourable rainfall and decreased in the
years of sparse rainfall. 15 Within the district also, the rate of growth
varied from tahsil to tahsil . 17

Within the canal irrigated area too, increase in different
divisions, districts and tahsils was uneven. The percentage of the
total crops grown by irrigation in 1896-97 in various divisions was
Lahore 57, Derajat 41, Peshawar 35, Rawalpindi 31, Jalandhar 26 and
Delhi 11. 18 Between 1878 and 1900, as compared to other districts,

15. Between 1868-69 and 1878-79, the cultivated area in Gurdaspur district, for
example, increased by 39 per cent, while in the ten years ending 1901-02, the
increase was only of 5 per cent : Gurdaspur District Gazetteer 1883-84, Statistical
Table No. II; and Imperial Gazetteer of India : Provincial Series; Punjab, Vol-
II, p. 64. In Rohtak district, the cultivated area between 1862 and 1878-79
increased by 34 per cent, while in the three succeeding decades , the increase was
only of 3 percent : Rohtak District Gazetteer 1910, p. 105. Similarly, in 1885,
the cultivated area in Rawalpindi district showed an increase of 46 per cent over
the period of the first regular settlement, but between 1885 and 1907, an increase
only of 6 percent was recorded : Rawalpindi District Gezetteer 1907, p. 138,

16. For example, in Hissar district the cultivated acreage in 1873-74 and 1868-69
increased by 5 per cent while in 1878-79 it decreased by 14 per cent : Hissar
District Gazetteer 1883-84, Statistical Table No. II. Similarly, in Jhang District
the'cultivated area in 1888-89 decreased by 16 per cent on that of 1878-79. With
the beginning of canal irrigation it rose about three times in 1898-99 : Jhang
District Gazetteer 1934, Statistical Table No.I.

17. In Shahpur district, for example, increase in cultivated area in 1893 was more
then double on that of 1864, but the percentage of increase in Shahpur tahsil was
173, in Bhera tahsil 131 and in Khushab tahsil 89 only : Shahput District
Gazetteer 1897, p. 148. In Ferozepore district between 1871 and 1913 Mukatsar
and Fazilka tahsils showed nearly double the increase than the other tahsils :
Ferozepore District Gazetteer 1915, p. 1 59. See also, Attock District Gazetteer
1907, p. 162-63; Ibid., 1932, pp. 185-86; Rawalpindi District Gazetteer 1907,
p. 138; Amritsar District Gazetteer 1947, p. 79; and Gujrat District Gazetteer
1921, p. 79.

18. Report on the Famine in the Punjab in 1896-97, Lahore, 1898, p. 4.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

the irrigated areas increased manifold in the districts of Ferozepore,
Jhang, Amritsar, Lahore, Jalandhar, Multan, Gujranwala, Ludhiana,
Peshawar and Muzaffargarh , 19 The accompanying table illustrate the
position. 20

Area of the Crops irrigated from all sources in different

districts of the Punjab in 1878 and 1900

District

1878

1900

Increase or
decrease

Acres

Hissar

100,690

182,677

+ 81,987

Rohtak

118,634

119,977

+ 1,343

Gurgaon

190,746

202,797

+ 12,051

Delhi

193,865

198,132

+ 4,267

Karnal

266,365

328,936

+ 62,571

Ambala

175,876

79,015

— 96,861

Simla

627

886

+ 259

Kangra

164,398

175,814

+ 11,416

Hoshiarpur

26,286

114,785

+ 88,499

Jalandhar

224,179

411,670

+ 187,491

Ludhiana

119,322

295,968

+ 176,646

Ferozepore

180,910

810,473

+ 629,563

Multan

410,300

455,058

+944,758

Jhang

227,104

1,172,959

+ 945,855

Montgomery

240,592

273,410

+ 32,818

Lahore

455,140

682,509

+227,369

Amritsar

264.670

588,543

+323,873

Gurdaspur

122,600

247,740

+ 125,140

Sialkot

425,645

491,998

+ 66,353

Gujrat

92,141

193,490

+ 101,349

Gujranwala

389,443

648,702

+259,259

Shahpur

176,087

227,965

+ 51,878

Jehlam

31.649

38,147

+ 6,498

Rawalpindi

16,157

59,950

4- 43,793

Hazara

44,969

59,549

+ 14.580

Peshawar

217,387

424,701

+207,314

Kohat

35,948

33,671

— 2,277

Bannu

69,000

158,016

+ 89,016

Dera Ismail

Khan

150.000

148,836

— 1,164

Dera Ghazi

Khan

248,792

236,016

— ' 12,776

Muzaffargarh

256,534

313,593

+ 57,059

Total British
Punjab

5,635,786

9,375,983

+3,740,197

19. Ibid., pp. 10-11.

20. The Punjab Famine of 1899-1900, Vol. I, Government Printing Press, Lahore
1901, Statement No. II B, pp. 16-17.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

However, the biggest area of agricultural development was in
the canal colonies. With the large scale canalisation and colonization
from 1889 onwards, the western plains of the Punjab went ahead in
agricultural expansion. Between 1890 and 1900, the cultivated area
of the British Punjab showed an increase of 2,024,320 acres or 7.8 per
cent. The main centre of this increase was the Chenab Canal Colony
in which nearly 1,100,000 acres were brought under the plough
during the decade ending 1899. 21 The gross cultivated area of the
British districts between 1901 and 1911 increased from 28.11 million
acres to 29.65 million acres. The greatest contributors to this
increase were Lyallpur and Jhang districts with 589,573 acres, and
Shahpur with 499,887 acres. 22

With the spread of irrigation there was a considerable disparity
in the rate of increase in the areas under the spring and autumn
harvests. Between 1871 and 1894 the acreage under the spring harvest
increased by 72.2 per cent and that under the autumn harvest by 13.5
per cent only. 23 There was moreover diversity of increase in the
acreage under all crops. On the whole, the area under wheat, cotton,
gram and oil-seeds (particularly toria ) increased at a high rate, while
the area under rice, sugarcane, vegetables, tobacco, fodder crops,
maize and poppy showed smaller increase and the area under barley
and indigo in fact decreased. 24 Oil-seeds began increasingly to be
cultivated in the canal colonies. In 1910, toria alone covered 5 lac
acres. The maximum progress in terms of the total areas, however.

21. H.A. Rose, Report on the Census of India 1901, Vol. XVII, Part I, Simla, 1902,
p 49,

22. Pandit Harikrishan Kaul, Report on the Census of India 1911, Vol. XIV, Part I,
Lahore, 1912, p. 51. The districts covered by the canal colonies, whole or in
part, were marked by excellent expansion of cultivation. The cultivated area in
Jhang district between 1888-89 and 1903-04 increased by 459 per cent : Jhang
District Gazetteer 1934, Statisical Table No. I.

23. Earlier, due to the lack of irrigation, the sowing of large area under spring crops
was not possible as bulk of the rainfall fell in the autumn season. As irrigation
grew the area under the spring harvest increased more : Report on the
Administration of the Panjab and Its Dependencies for the Year 1877-78 (all
Administration Reports cited hereafter are prefixed as PAR), p.100; PAR 1889-90 ,
p. 105; and PAR 1894-95, p. 111.

24. The growth of irrigation made the cultivation of more valuable crops possible on
a larger scale while increase in their prices and high yield served as incentives to
substitute the area under less valuable crops by the more valuable ones.

✓

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

was made in the cultivation of wheat . 26 The distribution of the crops
matured under irrigation too was highly unequal . 26

The extension of irrigation and the availability of cultivable
land to be brought under cultivation were obviously the basic factors
which determined the growth of agriculture in different regions.
The most noteworthy characteristic of agricultural development
thus was that it was primarily a development in the sense of increase
in acreage under cultivation effected through the various irrigation
projects. In other woYds, comparatively less attention was paid to
intensive cultivation.

Assured of benefits, the Punjabi agriculturists enthusiastically
purchased new implements of both Indian and foreign manufacture
for the improvement of cultivation. More important among these
were sugarcane-crushers, Persian wheels, ploughs, fodder -cutter.

25. Increase or decrease in the cultivation of various crops was as follows :

Area under various Crops in Thousand Acres

Crop

1876

1921

Increase or Percentage

decrease

of change

Oil-seeds

188

1,172

1,084

577

Cotton

668

1,540

872

131

Gram

2,272

3,873

1,601

Wheat

6,609

8,951

2,342

Rice

708

829

121

Sugarcane

356

412

Barley

1,874

1,099

— 775

— 41

: PAR 1877-78, pp. 101-02; Pandit Harikrishan

Kaul, Report on ihe Census of

India 1911, Vol. XIV, Part I,

p. 51; and L. Middleton, Report on the Census of

India 1921, Vol. XV, Part I,

Lahore, 1923, p.

10. For detail on all crops

various districts see the statistical tables in the District Gazetteers.

26.

The following table gives percentage of the matured area under crops irrigated

from various sources in the Punjab districts in

1921 :

1 .

Lyallpur

90 11.

Sialkot

53 20.

Gurgaon

Montgomery

87 12.

Firozepore

46 21.

Hissar

Muitan

87 13.

Dera Ghazi

43 22.

Mianwali

Jhang

Khan

23.

Hoshiarpur

Lahore

78 14.

Ludhiana

37 24.

Attock

Muzaffargarh

77 15.

Karnal

36 25.

Ambala

Gujranwala

76 16.

Guj rat

36 26.

Jehlam

Shahpur

75 17.

Gurdaspur

28 27.

Rawalpindi

Amritsar

70 18.

Rohtak

27 28.

Simla

—

10.

Jalandhar

54 19.

Kangra

:F. Middleton, Report on the Census of India 1921, Vol. XV, Part I, p. 11.

VOL XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

harrows and drills.. The new iron sugarcane-crusher called Behia Mill
rapidly superseded the native velna of cogged wooden wheels. The
new sugarcane-crusher crushed more quantity and gave higher yield.
The agriculturists purchased the new implement in large numbers.
Introduced in 1874 it replaced totally the old crusher by the turn of
the century. 27 The information collected by the Punjab government
on its popularity affords strong evidence of the enthusiasm with which
the peasant-proprietors regarded the new crusher as an economiser of
the labour alike of cattle and men. 2 ® The encouraging response of
the peasant -proprietors made the new crusher more successful in the
Punjab than in other parts of India. 28 At first these were imported
from Shahbad in- Bengal, and Saharanpur and Roorkee in North-
Western Provinces. But by 1890 large scale manufacture of iron
sugarcane-crushers, among other better implements started in the
Punjab Province at Delhi, Karnal,Nahan, Amritsar, Batalaand Lahore.
Similarly, the chaff-cutters used to be imported from Bombay. Being
an implement of daily use it was in great demand. With the passage
of time Batala emerged as a big centre of the manufacure of chaff-
cutters in India. 30 The reports of the district officers in 1895 show
that most of the new implements were throughly appreciated and
were driving the old ones out. 31

Following the new techniques of the sowing of crops, in much
of the Punjab the use of drills for sowing seed increased greatly.
Drill was a hollow tube fixed in the shaft of the plough through
which the ploughman dropped the seed grain into the furrow. It was
generally used for more valuable crops like wheat. 82

27. See, for example, Kama l District Gazetteer, 1883-84, pp. 162-63; Gurdaspur
District Gazetteer, 1883-84, pp. 56-57 and 62; Amritsar District Gazetteer, 1892-93
p. 94; PAR 1897-98, p. 159; Imperial Gazetteer of India : Provincial Series :
Punjab, Vol. I, p. 59; and Punjab Report in Reply to the Inquiries Issued by
Famine Commission, Vol. I, p . 193. The initial response of the Punjab peasants
to the official efforts however was not very encouraging : Punjab Report in
Reply to the Inquiries Issued by Famine Commission, Vol. I, p. 289; and Govern-
ment of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture :
Agriculture-A, June 1877, No. 34.

28. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture:
Agriculture, July 1884, No. 4.

29. Ibid., October 1886, No. 19.

30. Ibid., September 1891, No. 25.

31. Ibid., February 1895, No. 16.

32. Ferozepore District Gazetteer 1883-84, p. 67; and Bannu District Gazetteer 1907
p. 79.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

Efforts made in seed selection by the government were appreciated
by the peasant-proprietors. The agriculturists in the canal colonies
showed deep interest in the high-yielding varieties of crops. 33 Accor-,
ding to F. Halsey, a British observer, the agriculturists of the Punjab
appreciated the better crops and better methods of tillage as much as
the British agriculturists. He gave evidence of his own fifty acre farm
at Amritsar. The peasant-proprietors of the villages around eagerly
tried to get seeds from his farm. This was not the end; they also
made efforts to acquire the kind of implements used in the farm of
F. Halsey. 34 The adaptation rate of high-yielding varieties was much
higher in the Punjab in comparison with the other parts of India.
In the beginning of the twentieth century the Punjab formed about
12 per cent of the area of British India, but had about one-third of
the acreage under high-yielding varieties of crops. It had a large
share in the better varieties of wheat and cotton. 38 Thousands of
cultivators who had earlier never thought of the quality of the seed
either themselves grew selected seeds or purchased them from others
by the beginning of the present century.

Towards the end of the 19th century, a change in the pattern of
marketing of agricultural produce was increasingly evident not only in
the canal colonies but also in other districts. Considerable trade in the
Malwa tract began to be carried by the peasant-proprietors themselves.
Trade in the western part of Ludhiana district, for example, was entirely
in the hands of the peasant-proprietors who brought the grain in their
own carts and themselves disposed it off at Ludhiana to grain merchants
and representatives of different firms. It was observed by the British
officials that a peasant-proprietor would not part with his grain on
the spot even if it was the custom for the merchants to go about the
country for he expected to get a better price at Ludhiana. 36 The peasant-
proprietors of the Ferozepore district, with the exception of those in

33. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and Agri-
culture : Agriculture, October 1904, No. 11.

34. Government of India. Proceedings of the Department of Revenue, Agriculture
and Commerce : Agriculture and Horticulture, December 1873, No. 4.

35. This can be substantiated by the illustration of acreage under high yielding
varieties in different provinces. The total area under high yielding varieties of
crops in British India in 1926-27 was 8.9 million acres. Out of this 3 million
acres were in the Punjab alone followed by Bombay with 1.6 and United
Provinces with 1.5 million acres. About 50 percent of the better wheat and
41 per cent of cotton was cultivated in the Punjab alone; Vers Anstey, Economic
Development in India, London, 1949 (3rd ed.), p, 527.

36. Ludhiana District Gazetteer 1888-89, pp. 159-60.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

the riverain tract, took their grain to Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar,
Lahore and Bahawalpur. 37 The agents of the European merchants in
important centres also began purchasing the produce directly from the
cultivators, let alone from traders and middlemen. 88 It reduced the
profits of the middlemen, and a larger proportion of market price
reached the pocket of the actual producers than before. In the early
20th century it became common for the peasant-proprietors, free from
the clutches of the money-lender to bring their produce to the market
and sell it for cash at the market price, instead of allowing the village
shopkeeper to take it at a price fixed by himself. 39 *

Among some sections of the agriculturists in the Punjab,
industriousness, fearlessness and zeal for the improvement played an
important role in marking the colonisation schemes of the government
an unexpected success. The earliest attempt by the British government
to found a colony within the boundaries of the British Punjab was
made in 1818 in the Hissar district. But it proved to be a failure
because the inhabitants of Bundelkhand chosen for this purpose did
not like to settle in a distant country. 40 The experience in the Chenab
Colony however was different. Before colonisation its area was a
desolate waste land covered mostly with scrub forests. The aboriginal
tribes were hostile and opposed to colonisation. 41 But these difficulties
were overcome by the indomitable and adventurous spirit of the
peasent-proprietors of the Punjab. The Chenab Colony showed a
marvellous development. The area of Lyallpur district which was the
most backward and desolate region of the Punjab in 1891 became the
model of Punjab agriculture in 1901. Within one decade about 1.6
million acres of land were brought under cultivation in the Chenab
Colony 42 About 3,22,000 people migrated to the Chenab Colony from
other districts of the Punjab. The density of population per square
mile in this colony increased from 9 in 1891 to 181 in 1901. 43 The

37. Ferozepore District Gazetteer, 1888-89, p. 107.

38. Lower Jeitlam Canal Gazetteer 1920, Lahore, 1921, p. 34.

39. James Wilson, Recent Economic Developments in the Punjab, Suffolk, 1910,
pp. 13-14.

40. Deva Singh, Colonization in the Rechna Doab, Punjab Government Record
Office Publications, Monograph No. 7, 1929, 1-2 and 11.

41. PAR 1849-51, pp. 2-4; Gazetteer of the Punjab : Provincial Volume 1888-89,
p. 11; and M.L. Darling, The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt, Delhi,
1977 (reprint), pp. 114-15.

42. Deva Singh, op. cit., pp. 14-15.

43. L. Middleton, Report on the Census of India 1921, Vol. XV, Part I, Subsidiary
Tables III and VII.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF the PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

peasant-proprietors held about 80 per cent of the colonised area in
the Chenab Colony. 44 The achievement of the government in the
Chenab Colony was largely the outcome of the response of the peasant
■■proprietors to the changing agrarian environment.

The extension of cultivation to the lands earlier graded as
marginal and inferior could be made possible by the peasant-pro-
prietors who were willing to cultivate additional land even as tenants. 4 *
In. order to make their holdings economic many small owners either
took more land for cultivation, if possible, or gave their own lands
to neighbours and themselves worked purely as tenants on bigger
holdings. Thus in the submontane and central districts like Ambala,
Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Lahore it was the small size of
holdings which placed more land under tenant cultivation. 48 In
Jalandhar the decrease in area cultivated by proprietors was due
to emigration to the canal colonies and foreign countries. 47 In
Ludhiana district bulk of the arable waste land which existed at
the time of annexation was brought under cultivation in the four
decades after the annexation. In Karnal district it was due to the
grant of waste lands to civil and military pensioners and due to the
bringing of several estates formerly kept as grazing reserve under
cultivation by the Mandal and Kunjpura families. 48 The decrease
in the area cultivated by proprietors in the Hoshiarpur district was
largely due to the ravages of the plague and emigration to the canal
colonies, which obliged the proprietors to have recourse to the
tenants. 49 Similarly, most of the newly broken land in the canal
colonies was cultivated by tenants. The motivating factor here
was the large size of holdings and the desire of big landowners to
bring the maximum of their land under cultivation to produce more. 60
Increased tenant cultivation under such circumstances should not
be regarded as a step towards feudalism but as a sign of transition
towards capitalism which by then was gaining a foothold in the
Punjab. The tendeney to bring the earlier less cared for lands under

44. J.G. Beazley and F.H. Puckle, The Punjab Colony Manual, Vol. I, Lahore,
1926, p. 2.

45. Government of India, Proceedings of the Department of Revenue and Agri-
culture : Agricultue, February 1886, No. 15.

46. William Robert and Kartar Singh, A Text Book of Punjab Agriculture, Lahore,
n. d., pp. 515-16. .

47i Land Revenue Settlement Report of Jullundur District 1913-17, p. 25.

48. Land Revenue Settlement Report of Karnal District 1909, p. 17.

49. Land Revenue Settlement Report of Hoshiarpur District 1910-11, p. 20.

50. PAR 1394-95, p. 13.

VOL. XXVM

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

cultivation through tenants in most of the cases was the outcome
of the desire to produce more and reap high profits than of abstain-
ing from cultivation.

The agrarian society was composed of various strata of the
holders of landed rights with corresponding agricultural resources,
skill and enterprise. The peasant-proprietors conducted agricultural
operations of their holdings primarily with their family labour and
implements owned by themselves. The landlords on the other hand,
gave land to others to cultivate as their tenants and generally took
little interest in increasing the productivity, of the soil. The insecurity
of the tenure in case of the tenants, particularly tenants-at-will who
constituted the majority, was a check on the utilisation of agricultural
potential of the land cultivated by the tenants. Because of the
nature of their respective rights and involvement in cultivation, it
were not the landlords or tenants, but the peasant-proprietors who
provided the basis for a highly productive agriculture in the
Punjab. 61

On the basis of the size of their holdings the peasant-proprietors
may be divided into various strata ranging from the holders of less
than one to fifty acres or more. Among the proprietors, 49.7 per cent
owned less than five acres; 31 per cent owned over five but under
fifteen acres; 14.4 per cent over fifteen but less than fifty; and less than
six per cent, fifty acres and above. 62 Of these, those holding from five
to fifty acres, formed 38 per cent of the total number of land-owners
and held 62.2 per cent of the cultivated land in the Punjab in the

51. M.L. Darling, op. cit., pp. 118, 121,132 and 275-58. See also, ‘ The Way to
Prosperity Through Rural India,’ Sunday Times, Madras, n. d., p. 4; and A.R.
Desai, Social Background of Indian Nationalism, Bombay, 1976, pp. 62-63.
The landlords and sufaid-poshes did not cultivate with their own hands.
Generally they were neither so fragal nor prosperous as better of the peasant-
proprietors. Only 10 per cent of them were careful men whose incomes
were more than their expenditures. Majority of the old families sank into
poverty from two causes, both due to foolish pride. The head of the house
thought to maintain a reputation for hospitality. To maintain it he mortgaged
and borrowed freely. His sons were brought up in idleness and married
early. They disdained to work with their own hands : Land Revenue Settlement
Report of Bannu District 1872-78, p. 59.

52. The land-owning class was dominated by the owner-cultivators. By 1881 the
landowners who did not cultivate their lands themselves formed one per cent
of the total landowners in the eastern plains, while in the western plains,
their proportion was relatively larger : D.C.J. Ibbetson, Report on the Census
of the Punjab 1881, Calcutta, 1883, p. 381; and H. Calvert, The Size and
Distribution of Agricultural Holdings in the Punjab, Board of Economic Inquiry,
Publication No. 4, 1925, pp. 4-6.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

beginning of the twentieth century. Because of the size of their holding
being above the subsistence level their economic position was relatively
sound and they could produce more for the market . 63 The prasant-
proprietors belonging to this category were thus able to respond more
effectively to the changing agrarian environment.

As compared to the tenant-cultivators, the holdings of the peasant-
prorietors were generally larger. 5 * The quality of the land tilled by
the large peasant-proprietors too was generally better than that
cultivated by the tenants and the resources at the disposal of the pea-
sant-proprietors also were relatively larger and the wastage of human
and cattle force in their case was minimum. The peasant-proprietors
by and large kept better cattle and used them for cultivation purposes,
while the tenants were keen to use their cattle power to supplement
their income from cultivation. The peasant-proprietors levelled the
ground, rooted out weed, followed careful rotation, allowed more
fallows and were keen on putting more manure in the fields, while the
tenants did very little in these respects . 56 Judged by the standard of
cultivation there were very few good non-cultivating proprietors in the
Punjab, and with few exceptions, they were considered even a greater
burden upon society than the money-lender . 56

Also, the peasant-proprietors relatively showed greater aptitude
for the application of the latest scientific and technological innovations
as soon as their practical utility became clear to them . 67 Wider
popularity of the iron sugar mill in a very short time in the Punjab
illustrates this . 58 Introduced in the last quarter of the nineteenth
century, it ousted the old wooden press almost every where by the turn
of the century . 69 Sugarcane being a perennial crop and involving

53. H. Calvert, op. cit., pp. 1-4.

54. In Jehlam district, for example, by 1872-73 the average size of peasant-proprietor’s
holding was 10 acres and that of tenants’s about 4z acres : PAR 1872-73
pp. 15-16.

55. H. Calvert, The Wealth and Welfare of the Punjab, pp. 90-93.

56 M.L. Darling, Rusticus Loguitur or the Old Light and the New in the Punjab
Villages, Oxford University Press, 1 930, pp. 332-33.

57. See for example, Multan District Gazetteer 1923-24, pp. I74-75.

58. Major sugarcane producting districts in the Punjab were Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur
Sialkot, Jalandhar, Rohtak and Kamal : A, Latifi, Industrial Punjab : A
Survey of Facts, Conditions and Possibilities, Bombay, 1911, pp. 194-95.

59. Imperial Gazetteer of India : Provincial Series : Punjab, Vol. I, p. 59 See also

Kamal District Gazetteer 1883-84, p. 163. ' ’

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

considerble expenditure, the iron sugar mill was little attractive to the
tenants-at-will who rarely purchased it. Likewise, the masonary wells
equipped with the iron Persian wheel were mainly constructed by the
peasant-proprietors because they had a better right in land and greater
economic means . 60 On the other hand, due to poverty and limited
rights, the tenants preferred to leave their wells unbricked and to work
with the old apparatus . 61 In their response to specific scientific
innovations, the peasant-proprietors took to the use of better seeds and
inorganic manure. They also began the cultivation of more remunera-
tive crops on a large scale, while the tenants generally preferred to
cultivate crops involving minimum of expenditure and thus continued
largely in subsistence farming . 62

The unexpected success of the canal colonies too was at least
partly due to the colonising characteristics of the prasant-proprietors.
Colonisation in our period was a lengthy process in which the success
of one project led to the commission of the next. The government had
introduced capitalists and yeomen in canal colonies expecting them to
provide lead in the application of advancements in agriculture. In due
course, however, the government realised their unsatisfactory colonis-
ing habits as they were very largely the absentee landlords and the
standard of cultivation on their land was very low . 68 On the Rakh
Branch, the first circle in Lyallpur colony, the peasants, yeomen,
capitalists and auction purchasers were all represented in due propor-
tions. But on other branches, colonised after the Rakh Branch, the
settlers were mostly peasant-proprietors, for the government by then

60. Sukhwant Singh, “The Peasant-Proprietors in the Punjab, 1849-1901,”
Proceedings of the Punjab History Conference, Fourteenth Session, Punjabi
University, Patiala, 1981, pp. 192-96. See also, PAR 1897-98, p. 464; Imperial
Gazetteer of India : Provincial Series: Punjab, pp. 59 and 154; J.M. Douie,
Punjab Land Administration Manual, Lahore, 1931 (revised edition), p. 229, and
H. Calvert, op. cit., pp. 90-93 and 206.

61. See, for example, Karnal District Gazetteer 1918, pp. 107-09.

62. H. Calvert, op. cit., pp. 89-90. The high yielding varieties of crops were widely
cultivated in the canal colonies where the peasant-proprietors of reputed
agricultural tribes were settled as colonists. In Montgomery district, for
example, in 1932-33, of the total area under cotton and wheat, 95 per cent and
83 per cent respectively were under high yielding varieties : Montgomery
District Gazetteer 1933, p. 162.

.63. M.L. Darling, op. cit., pp. 118, 121 and 132; Himadri Banerjee, op. cit., pp. 29-
30; and Deva Singh, Colonization in the Rechna Doab, pp. 14-15.

PROGRESSIVE APTITUDE OF THE PUNJAB PEASANTRY 1849-1901

had recognised the fine colonising characteristics of the peasant-
proprietors. 61 As a result, in the Lyallpur and Shahpur colonies, the
peasant settlers held 80 per cent of the total colonised area, and also
responded enthusiastically to the cultivation of more profitable crops. 65
Consequently, in a short time, most of the pessant settlers in the canal
colonies were able to redeem their fields mortgaged in the home
villages which were mostly in the central Punjab. 68

Capital investment by private enterprise in making permanent
improvements on land supplemented the efforts of the government.
In this sphere also the peasant-proprietors overshadowed the other
landed classes. It was often observed^ by the British administrators
that since the annexation of the Punjab the peasant-proprietors vastly
improved their holdings primarily at their own expense. 97 The wells
which were the chief source of investment were mainly constructed by
the peasant-proprietors. 68 With the result, the number of masonary
wells increased about two fold between 1849 and 1901. 69 The loans
for agricultural improvements also were given on the security of land
owned. 70 The concessions and exemptions offered by the government
to those constructing irrigation works and effecting other improvements
on land also went largely to the peasant-proprietors. 71 In fact, the

64. Deva Singh, op. cit., pp. 14-15.

65. M.L. Darling, op. cit., pp. 115-17.

66. S.S. Thorburn, Punjab in Peace and War, Patiala, 1970 (reprint), pp. 282-83.

67. J.M. Douie, Punjab Land Administration Manual, p. 229.

68. The tenants even with occupancy rights had no right to construct a masonary
well because it was considered a symbol of proprietary right : PAR 1849-51,
pp. 103-04; and C.H. Spitta, Manual of Law for the Punjab, Lahore, 1879,
pp. 142-46 and 170-72.

69. In 1849, the Punjab had 142,556 wells of all sorts. The number of masonary
wells alone rose to 276,000 in 1 903-04 and to 341,713 in 1945-46 : PLRAR
1861-62, 148 : Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series : Punjab, Vol. 1,
p. 68; and M.L. Darling, op. cit., p. 143, n. 5.

70. PAR 1849-51, p. 132; and J.M. Douie, op. cit., p. 2 31.

71. To encourage investment in the means of irrigation the governmen t did not
make additional assessment on newly constructed irrigation works until the
private capital invested had a time to reap a remunerative return. In the
Punjab the term of exemption from assessment on new improvements was
uniformally fixed at 20 years for masonary wells. 5 years for canal distributaries
and 10 years for other irrigation works : Government of India, Proceedings of

[ Continued on page 96

VOL. XXVI-I

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

system of public investment and incentives given in agriculture was
such in greater advantage to the peasant-proprietors was inbuilt.

' In conclusion, the industrious ness and enthusiasm of the peasant-
proprietors played an important role in the increase of agricultural
production in the Punjab. The peasant-proprietors showed more
aptitude for the application of the latest scientific and technological
innovations. Their aptitude for technological advancements initiated
a process of modernisation in the agriculture of the Punjab.

Continued from page 95]

Department of Revenue and Agriculture : Revenue, August 1892, Nos. 17-19;
Government of India, Land Revenue Policy of the Indian Government , Govern*
ment Printing, Calcutta, 1 902, pp. 24-25 and 85; and Imperial Gazet teer of India :
Provincial Series : Punjab, Vol. I, pp. 112-13,

Dr Hari Ram Gupta— The Doyen of the
Punjab Historians

Dr Shiv Kumar Gupta*

With the demise of Dr Hari Ram Gupta on 28th March 1992
at New Delhi, a trinity of distinguished Punjab historians has been
eclipsed — Dr Ganda Singh and Dr Fauja Singh having already left
the scene one after the other.

Born on 5 February 1902 at a small village Bhurewal, tehsil
Naraingarh, district Ambala, Hari Ram Gupta had his higher educa-
tion at Lahore. He was the first person to receive the degree of Ph.D.
in 1937 and D. Litt. in 1944 in history from the Panjab University.

Dr Gupta started his career as a lecturer in History at Forman
Christian College, Lahore. For some time he was also the Principal
of Vaish College, Bhiwani. Later he served as Head of the Depart-
ment of History at Aitchi son College, Lahore. After partition he
joined historical section in the Ministry of Defence and wrote
‘Narratives of Persian and Iraq Foce and Burma Campaigns of World
War It.’ He served as Professor and Head, Department of History,
Panjab University, Chandigarh form 1957 to 1963 and Dean University
Instruction for over a year. After retirement. Dr Gupta worked for
three years as an Honorary Professor in the Department of History,
University of Delhi from 1964 to 1967, under the University Grants
Commission scheme for retired teachers. This was followed by a
period of continuous teaching at Dev Samaj College, Ferozepur,
where he happened to be as an Honorary Head of the Department of
History till his last days, living in a small room in students’ Hostel,
fully involved in teaching and research both.

Dr Gupta is the author of more than a dozen research volumes,
mostly dealing with the history of the Sikhs, prepared from original
sources available in Persian, Marathi, Gurmukhi, English, Urdu and
Hindi. He enjoyed international reputation as an authority on the
history of the Sikhs. No wonder, Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta,
conferred upon him Sir Jadunath Sarkar Gold Medal for his ‘out-

*Lecturer, Department of History, Punjabi University, Patiala.

VOL. XXVI-I

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standing’ original contribution to the history of the Punjab.

An erudite scholar, Dr Gupta wrote with zest and vision. His
style is lucid and terse and language plain but forceful. Forewords
to his books written by such eminent persons as Sir Jadunath Sarkar,
Sir Shafaat Ahmad Khan, Sir Jogendra Singh, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru and N.V. Gadgil speak volumes of his contribution in th'e field
of historical research.

According to Collingwood ‘the horizon of history had to be
widened through a more sympathetic investigation of those past ages
which the enlightenment had treated as unlightened, or barbaric and
left in obscurity.” True to it, Dr Hari Ram Gupta took up, to study
an obscure period — a period of almost complete darkness in the
history of the Sikhs from the time of Guru Gobind Singh’s death in
1708 till Ranjit Singh’s occupation of Lahore in 1799. Dr Gupta has
thrown light on this period in four volumes, including the ‘Studies in
Later Mughal history of the Panjab,’ after a continuous persistent and
strenous labour of ten years. In fact Dr Gupta was the first historian
to have planned a seven volume survey with an aim to present a.
comprehensive view of the rise, growth and development of Sikh
thought and action almost in every direction religious, philosophical,
political, military, social, economic and cultural as also contribution of
Sikhism to world civilization, in particular to human rights, principles
of liberty, equality and fraternity and to the creed of democracy and
secularism. Four of these seven volumes viz. The Sikh Gurus, Vol. I;
Evoh'tion of Sikh Confedracies, Vol. II; Sikh Dominion of the
Mughal Empire, Vol. Ill; The Sikh Monarchy, 1729-1849, Vol. IV
had already appeared. Other three — The Sikh Commonwealth or
Rise and Fall of the Sikh Misls; The Social and Economic History
of the Sikhs, 1469-1849 and the Sikhs under the British and in Free
India, were still under preparation when the death snatched him
from us.

In his ‘foreword’ to Dr Gupta’s History of the Sikhs, Vol. II,
dealing with Cis-Sutlej Sikhs, 1769-1799, Sir Jogendra Singh observed
in 1943 :

Hari Ram Gupta has the gift of summoning processions of
the pictures of the past and revivifying them with the breath
of life. He has delved deep into the records of nearly two
hundred years past and from the fragments of scattered
documents build up a connected story, revealing the decay

1. Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, Lahore, 1944, p. 10.

DR HARI RAM GUPTA— THE DOYEN OF THE PUNJAB HISTORIANS

of Moghul Empire and the adventurous rise of the power of
the Sikhs.

Sir Jogindra Singh recommended that ‘every Sikh should read his
book and resolve at all costs to bring unity with the Panth, and with
it power to mould its own future and that of India.’ 2

Dr Hari Ram Gupta epitomizes the various stages of the rise of
Sikh power as “From ploughshare to sword, from sword to forts, from
forts to fortress, from fortress to garrison, from garrison to armies,
from armies to territories and from territories to kingdoms.” 3 He
would have us believe that it was the danger which led them from
weakness to strength, from strengh to greatness and from greatness to
glory.” 4 5

In his ‘ History of the Sikhs, Vol. Ill, dealing with Trans-Sutlej
Sikhs, 1769-1799, Dr Gupta observed, “Though a victim of civil
strife, the Trans-Sutlej Sikhs displayed a noble trait, a character in
resisting the invader from the north-west single handed, without
receiving any assistance from their bretheren of the Cis-Sutlej.” s

“News letters do what perhaps no other record of the period
does; they transport us completely to a different level of perception
and consciousness. Through them we attain a great understanding of
the times of the spirit which is so essential for the study of history.” 6
Dr Hari Ram Gupta’s Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War is a
documentary study of the political, social and economic conditions of
the Punjab as depicted in the daily letters written chiefly from Lahore
by British intelligence during the period from 30 December 1843 to 31
December 1844. These documents unfold a story which culminated
in intrigues between Sikh Government of Punjab and the British
Government which virtually sealed the fate of the army and kingdom.”
“History is not only an intellectual discipline but it has moral lessons
for all times and ages.” “The present volume,” according to Dr R.C.
Majumdar, “has such lessons for us all in India, both the rulers and
the ruled, and it is to be confidently hoped that they would make it a
point to read and project by these documents so that warnings of
history may not go in vain.” 7

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., Vol. Ill, p. I.

4. Ibid., p. 2.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid., Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War, Chandigarh, 1975, p. 20.

7. Ibid., Title page.

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‘Adina Beg' — the last Mughal Viceroy of the Punjab, was yet
another obscure personality. Dr Gupta worked upon. Except a
defective Persian manuscript of twelve small folios, hardly anything
existed on this subject. Dr Gupta, with his usual zealous pursuit
scratched and unearthed the archival material and was successful in
placing before the students of history yet another work of immense
historical importance.

Every newly discovered contemporary manuscript serves as a lamp
either illuminating a dark and neglected corner or making the existing
light brighter. ‘Life and work of Mohan Lai Kashmiri, 1812-1877’ is
itself a great contribution of Dr Hari Ram Gupta. It is an autobio-
graphy of an adventurer which “gives us intimate and revealing
glimpses of the early days of British rule in North India, of the Punjab
under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, of the British campaigns through Sind
and in Afghanistan, of the disasters in Kabul and the prevailing
conditions in Central Asia in the thirties of the 19th century. Hence of
immense importance for a student of political as also socio-economic
history of the period. In his ‘foreword’ to this work, Jawaharlal Nehru
wrote, “Hari Ram Gupta has evidently taken great pains over this
work and he has done something that was worth doing.” 8

Of all the battles fought in India none has aroused so much
interest and emotion of scholars and the common people alone as the
third Battle of Panipat. The battle was fought not only to preserve
Indian authority in this region but also to make India safe from
foreign invasions.

Marathas and Panipat by Dr Hari Ram Gupta i f an attempt to
give a fair and a dispassionate account of the third Battle of Panipat.
The volume is divided into three parts. The first part gives the back-
ground of the battle in thirteen chapters. The narrative is based mainly
on contemporary Persian, Marathi and Hindi sources as well as on the
works of Sir Jadunath Sarkar and Dr G.S. Sardesai. Importance of
the volume lies in the fact that whereas the author concentrates on the
Marathas, he has tried to tell their history as part of the wider history
of India and with relevant references to central Asian history, owing
to the influence exerted by it on the history of this country. The rise
and development of numerous powers closely connected with the
history of the Marathas such as Ahmad Shah Durrani, Najib-ud-
Daulah, Rohillas, the Nawabs of Avadh, the Jats, some of the Rajput

8. Ibid., Life and Works of Mohan Lai Kashmiri, Lahore, 1943, Foreward.

100

DR HARI RAM GUPTA— THE DOYEN OF THE PUNJAB HISTORIANS

princes and to a certain extent of the Sikhs is sketched in its proper
setting.

The Panipat compaign covering six chapters forms the second
part. The third part or ‘The Sequel’ contains eight chapters. Causes
of the Maratha defeat and consequences of the battle are described in
two Chapters. A chapter on ‘Maratha settlers in Panjab’ embodies
the result of visits to a number of places and interviews with nearly a
hundred persons. The services rendered by Raja Ala Singh of Patiala
to the Marathas at Panipat at the time of their dire need are discussed
in a chapter on ‘Marathas and the Sikhs.’ Writing about this volume
N.V.Gadgil has said :

The volume is an honest attempt to deal with the third
Battle of Panipat from its causes to consequences and should
stimulate interest in further study of the subject, on which
surely the last word has not been written. 9

Sir Jadunath Sarkar, who was Hari Ram Gupta’s examiner for his
Ph. D. thesis comments :

"Professor Hari Ram Gupta’s thesis on the 'Evolution of the
Sikh Confederaces,’ which I examined, along with Sir Edward
Maclagan, the scholarly ex-governor of the Panjab, for the Ph.D.
degree of the Panjab University, struck me as a work of outstanding
merit which completely fills up a gap in our knowledge of modern
Indian history.... One period of Panjab history and that of Delhi
Empire, too, ... has thus been set up on a granite foundation. It ought
to sense as a model to other works on Indian history.” 10

There is no denying the fact that this period (1716-1799) forms
one of the most important chapters of Sikh history. It was during
this time that the Sikhs evolved themselves by the strength of their
own arms, into one of the finest military peoples of the world. It was
in these days that the Sikhs rendered the most invaluable services to
the cause of our country by putting a dead stop to all foreign invasions
from the North-West. 11

Prof. Gupta’s another volume in the series is History of the Sikhs,
Vol. IV dealing with The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh
Misls. Writing about the Sikh struggle during this period Prof.
Gupta writes :

9. Hari Ram Gupta, Marathas and Panipat, Chandigarh, 1961, p. 10.

10. Ibid., History of the Sikhs, Vol. II; Evolution of the Sikh Confedracies, (1708-
1769), Delhi, 1978, pp. 11-12.

11. Ibid., p. 13.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Of all the Indian people who rose on the ruins of the Mughal
Empire, none were more distinguished and outstanding than the Sikhs.
Their struggle against the enemies of their faith and homeland was
marked by their overwhelming fighting capacity, astonishing energy,
stubborn perseverance, unprecedented sacrifices, unshakable faith in
their destiny, predicted by Guru Gobind Singh, and the brilliancy
of their success. 12

A nonegenarian, Dr Gupta had seen history in making. He could
not resist his anxiety to pen down his impressions of the contemporary
events. It is well borne out by his three volumes study of Indo-
Pakistan War of 1965. His other two volumes viz., ‘Life and Letters
of Sir Jadunath Sarkar’ and ‘Essays presented to Sir Jadunath
Sarkar’ are not only examples of his deep regard for historical scholar-
ship but also reflect his qualities of keen observation, deep penetration
and acute selection. .History of Dev Samaj Movement and Maharaja
Ranjit Singh were his other two volumes ready for the press.

Geography is one of the major factors that determine the historical
evolution of a people. It was keeping in view the importance of
geography in history that a ‘Students Historical Atlas of India,’ though
not a piece of historical research, was prepared by Dr Hari Ram
Gupta conjointly with his teacher Shri Sita Ram Kohli way back in
1933, when hardly any such edition was available which could assist a
young scholar in understanding the course of Indian history. Under-
standing well the importance of geography in history the two authors
had taken special care in preparation of the maps to supply physical
background necessary to explain the course of political or military
events. Particularly the maps designed to illustrate the invasions from ■>
the north-west, the trade routes with Central Asia, the Anglo-Afghan
wars, clearly indicate the influence of the topography of north-westen
India on the course of political, military and economic history of
India.

A meeting with the doyen of Indian historians is always a matter
of.pride and privilege. Dr Gupta was privileged enough to have
met and worked with Sir Jadunath Sarkar. Being exceedingly sym-
pathetic to a deserving cause and impressed by Dr Gupta’s work
Sarkar recommended that his thesis should either be published by
the University or it should give a suitable subsidy for its publication.
When the University expressed its inability to do so, Sir Jadunath

12. Ibid., p. 10.

102

DR HARI RAM GUPTA— THE DOYEN OF THE PUNJAB HISTORIANS

Sarkar got it printed and sent 500 copies to Dr Hari Ram Gupta at
Lahore without charging him anything.

Dr Hari Ram Gupta devoted his entire life to the cause of.
historical research and teaching. If in his pursuit of research he
produced volumes of immense historical research, in teaching his
students enamoured around him to listen to his lectures. “During his
lectures audience of hundreds was found glued to listen him for hours
together. Even after decades, people remember and recall his feats of
memory counting dates, events and names of people and places as also
references with page numbers of the books he referred. But perhaps
few know Dr Gupta had no good opinion about the life of a researcher
as also a teacher. He felt that the “life of a researcher in India was
miserable. Not to speak of any encouragement, the teaching profes-
sion did not even provide him with decent means of livelihood.” 13
Recalling his experience Dr Gupta expressed, “After twelve years
hardest toil, he found himself unable to make both ends meet.” 14
Hence at one stage, way back in 1944, he felt compelled to call a halt
to research activities and redirect his energies with some other
channel.” But that could not be. Perhaps his love for research and
teaching could not lead him elsewhere and he remained glued to both
till his last.

Dr Gupta considered it a question of vital importance to make the
teaching of history in colleges and universities interesting and popular.
According to him “Lectures should be accompanied by black-board
writing, diagrams and sketch maps and the students should be kept
alert throughout the period by asking questions frequently.” Dr
Gupta felt that the ‘development of historical’ thinking among students
is of greater importance than historical learning. 16

It was keeping in view his unsurpassed contribution to the fields
of historical research that in 1981, the Kendri Sri Guru Singh Sabha
honoured Dr Hari Ram Gupta at Anandpur Sahib on the occasion of
Baisakhi. Bai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi presented Dr
Gupta “The Bhai Vir Singh International Award” in 1989. The
Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala,
at its 23rd session held in 1989, felt priviledged to honour Dr Hari

13. Ibid., History of the Sikhs, Vol. Ill, Lahore, 1944, Preface.

1 4. Ibid.

15. Proceedings of Punjab History Conference, 9th Session, ‘Presidential Address,’
April, Patiala, 1976, p. 13.

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Ram Gupta in a befitting manner. The citation read at the occasion
says :

Each monograph of his bears testimony to his indefatigable
zeal, painstaking research penetrating intellect and profici-
ency in classical languages, especially Persian. With this
intellectual equipment Professor Gupta has broken fresh
ground in hither to unknown areas leaving an indelible
imprint wherever he dared to venture . 16

Given to few, Professor Hari Ram Gupta had emerged a legend
in his life-time.

16. Proceedings Punjab History Conference, 23rd session, 1989, Patiala, 1989.

104

Rural Sanitation in British Punjab :
A Critical Study

Narjeet Kaur*

Sanitation is that branch of public health which is concerned with
keeping the external environment healthful. The word ‘sanitation’ is
derived from the Latin word ‘ sanitas ’ which means a state of health.

The question of urban sanitation in the case of a majority of
towns constituted an important problem from the standpoint of public
health. But, outside the municipal limits there were no special
arrangements for sanitation. In the Punjab for the first time in 1926,
Rural Sanitary Board was created as a result of the division of the
Drainage Board during that year. The urban sanitary Board was
placed under the control of Director of Public Health, whereas the
Rural Sanitary Board was placed under the contral of Director of
Public Health, whereas the Rural Sanitary Board, which dealt with
areas outside the irrigation limits, was to remain under the control
of Chief Engineer, Buildings and Roads Branch. 1 In 1932, the
Government abolished the Rural Sanitary Board and Irrigation
Branch was vested with the responsibilty for all drainage and embank-
ment works, exclusive of the sanitary works. 2 Hereafter, Urban
Sanitary Board began to be known as the Sanitary Board. 8

Village sanitation in whole of the Province was in the appallingly
backward condition. 4 The Punjab Administration Report of 1907-08

* Research Scholar, Department of History, Punjabi University, Patiala.

1. Punjab Legislative Council Debates (hereafter abbreviated as PLCD), 7 March,
1927, Vol. X, No. 4, Lahore, 1927, pp. 129-30.

2. A Manual of Administration (Punjab Government Publication PWD, Irrigation
Branch, Chandigarh, 1954), Chapter I, para 163.

3. Annual Report of the Public Health Commissioner for 1932, Vol. 1 (Government.
Publication, Delhi, 1934), p. 209.

4. See Punjab District Gazetteers, Gazetteer of Jhang District 1908, Lahore, 1910,.
p. 161 ; Gazetteer of Karnal District 1918, Lahore, 1919, p. 207; Gazetteer of .
Sialkot District 1920, Lahore, 1921 , p. 204; Gazetteer of Gujrat District 1921,
Lahore, 1921, p. 158; Gazetteer of Montgomery District 1933, (Lahore, 1935),

105

[Continued on page 10&

VOL. XXVI-1

THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

shows that in the villages there had been practically no improvement.
No direct sanitary improvements had been made though the necessity
of them had been proved year by year in the plague epidemics. 6
Similar remarks were made by Hans Raj, a member Punjab Legislative
Council, in the 1925 session of the Council.® The District Medical
Officer of Health of Montgomery District noted that the sanitary
condition of the villages ip the district was very unsatisfactory. No
conservancy staff existed to clean up the villages. Filth was heaped
up inside or quite close to the human habitations for a long time
until it was removed to the fields as manure. There were no drains
worth the name in the rural areas and wherever they existed there,
was nobody to flush them. Drinking water supply was most unsatis-
factory and unhygienic, water was mostly drawn from shallow wells
which were unprotected from filth and flood water. 7 Similar was the
state of affairs in many other districts.

The progress regarding sanitation in rural areas was impeded by
certain factors. The chief of these was the ignorance and backwardness
of the people. Deep rooted habits, customs, beliefs and prejudices
on the part of rural population were responsible to a great extent for
their negligence regarding personal hygiene and sanitation. 8 Lack of
general awareness and education and health education added materi-
ally to the difficult of overcoming the indifference with which the
people tolerated the insanitary conditions around them and the large
amount of sickness that prevailed.

Another cause which affected the rural sanitary progress was the
inadequacy of local revenues and the insufficiency of the staff. 9 Ever-
since the creation of Rural Sanitary Board, it had never been free
from the anxiety about finances. Many useful schemes had been
postponed for lack of funds. 10 The village lambardar was the only
government official in the village who collected revenues from the

Continued from page 105 ]

p. 310; PLCD, 22 October, 1926, Vol. IX -No. 31, Lahore, 1926, p. 1712,
Ramsaran Das, ‘Note on Rural Sanitation’ in Report of the Punjab Sanitary
Conference, August 1913, Part II, Correspondence and Papers, Lahore, 1913,
p, 97; Mehdi Khan,,‘Note on Rural Sanitation’ in Ibid., p. 95.

5. Report on the Administration of the Punjab and its Dependences for the year
1907-8, Lahore, 1909, p. vii. Hereafter abbreviated as PAR.

6. PLCD, 1 March, 1928, Vol. X-No. 6, Lahore, 1928, p. 257.

7. Gazetteer of Montgomery District 1933, Lahore, 1935, p. 310.

8. Gazetteer of Ludhiana District 1904, Lahore, 1907, p. 226.

9. See PLCD, 6 May, 1925, Vol. VIII, No. 21. Lahore, 1925, p. 1048.

10. PLCD, 22 October, 1926, Vol. IX, No. 31, Lahore, 1926, p. 1711.

106

RURAL SANITATION IN BRITISH PUNJAB : A CRITICAL STUDY

villagers but he himself had no funds to spend on the setting up,
maintenance and continuance of sanitary services in the village.
Actually sanitation in Villages was never considered a matter which
should attract attention of the Government and its officials. Major
portion of the funds went to the urban areas. 11 During the year 1914
the Government granted rupees 7.5 lakhs for sanitation, out of which
rupees 5 lakhs were reserved for distribution to urban areas and only
rupees 2.5 lakhs for the imporvement of rural sanitation. 12

In villages sanitation was much neglected also owing to the fact
that there was no direct link between the village and rural sanitary
outhority and that the latter had little of any responsibility as regards
taking action; in consequence little or nothing was done. 13

In view of the fact that 90% of the population of the Punjab lived
in villages 14 and of the importance of the rural population in the -
economic life of the Province, their well being was a matter of special
importance. But the question of rural sanitation was given hardly
any importance by the alien rulers. Though some attention was
paid during the closing decades of the British rule in the Punjab
towards improving rural sanitation practially noting significant was
done. 14 The Director of Public Health pointed out in his annual
report for 1936 that, of a total of 35,871 villages in the Province, only
382 villages distributed over 27 districts (or about 1%) satisified these
conditions and could be considered as ‘sanitated.’ Asa result of
the continued drive to improve village sanitation the number of
‘sanitated’ villages rose to 5,470 by 1943 or 15.2% of the total
villages. 16 The criteria laid down can be considered as only minimum

11. PLCD, 20 March, 1924, Vol. VI, No. 17, Lahore, 1924, p. 758; PLCD, 22 October
' 1926, Vol. IX, No. 31, Lahore, 1926, p. 1712.

12. Home, Sanitary Proceedings, May 1925, Nos. 1-8, p. 3.

13. S. Browning Smith, ‘Proposals for the Improvement of Rural Sanitation’ in
Report of the Punjab Sanitary Conference, op. cit., p. 100.

14. Census of India, Vol. XV, Punjab and Delhi, 1921, Part-I, Lahore, 1923, p. 107;
also see, D.W. Aikman ‘Note on Rural Sanitation’ in Report of the Punjab
Sanitary Conference, op. cit., p. 13-

15. Virinder Singh, Dyarchy in Punjab, New Delhi, 1991, p. 65.

16. Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee, Vol. I, Delhi, 1946,
pp. 11-12. The Director of Public Health took the following as criteria for what
he termed a ‘sanitated village’ :

1) a water supply protected from surface contamination;

2) drains for the removal of waste water;

3) regular removal of filth and refuse outside the village to a place prepared for
their reception.

107 -

VOL. XX VM THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

standards of environmental sanitation and although some progress
had been achieved in the Punjab, much more remained to be done.
It is unfortunately true that the Punjab was in an unfavourable
position in relation to the provincial mortalities of India in as much
as it was generally at the top of the list . 17 Majority of the population
being rural, the greater proportion of the distressing mortality was
contributed by the rural population and this mortality, according
to W.H.C. Forster (Director Public Health, Punjab) was very largely
due to the conditions under which the people lived . 18 There had
been a strong and persistent demand, which found frequent ex-
pression in the Legislative Council for preventive and curative
measures to reduce the incidence of mortality from epidemics and to
improve the sanitary conditions of villages . 19

But the medical functions of the British Government were
confined only to fighting disease, caring for the sick, the collection of
statistical data and relevant research work rather than taking pre-
ventive measures which would have been more meaningful and
fruitful. More important was the raising of the general standard of
public health by means of efficient sanitation including personal
hygiene. Mass awareness regarding sanitation could make a lasting
effect on environmental cleanliness and ensure minimisation of
disease like cholera, small-pox, malaria, etc., which assume the form
of epidemics in insanitary conditions. But neither the Government
involved any voluntary agency for spreading awareness about sanitation
among the masses nor did any voluntary agency attach any impor-
tance to this work. The effectiveness and efficacy of sanitary measures
depended upon the amount of interest taken by various functionries
at different levels. There was no personal involvement which could
ensure a mass based movement of the people in general to maintain
sufficiently desirable standards of sanitation in and around their
living places. As a result, not much was achieved through Govern-
mental efforts regarding rural sanitation during the British period.

17. PLCD, 7 March, 19 27, Vol. X, No. 4, Lahore, 1927, p. 119.

18. PLCD , 22 October, 1926, Vol. IX, No. 31, Lahore, 1926, p. 1713.

19. S. Browing Smith, op. tit., p. 99.

108 t

The Jagirdars and Mufidars in the
Upper Bari Doab (1849-1947)

Dr B.S. Hira*

In important reason for the replacement of the Board of Administra-
tion by the Chief Commissioner in 1853 is supposed to be the conflicting
convictions of the Lawrence brothers, Henry and John, about the
treatement of the erstwhile beneficiaries of the kingdom of Lahore.
‘There were some 20,000 cases for disposal, and the claimants
ranged from the jagirdars or fief-holders of many villages to petty
endowed institutions such as almshouses and religious infant-
schools in villages. To the former the land revenue of thousands,
sometimes tens of thousands, of acres had been alienated; to the latter
only an ac!e or two in each case.’ 1 John regarded most of the large
grantees as ex-rebels or drones and, therefore, undeserving of any
consideration from the new rulers; Henry regarded them as worthy
patriots fallen on evil days and, therefore, morally as well politically
entitled to liberal treatment.

This view of the situation is amplified by N.M. Khilnani rather
recently. Whereas Henry viewed the problem of former beneficiaries
of the state from the point of political expediency, John regarded the
chiefs and jagirdars as parasitic. The former wished to retain for the
former jagirdars the greater part of their jagirs without the obligation
of service; the latter looked upon such a policy as wasteful and retrogres-
sive. ‘John’s insistence on the financial aspect of the question and
his refusal to recognise the expediency of maintaining the remnants of
the old Sikh aristocracy, spelt the ruin of the class Henry wished to
preserve.’ 2 John’s views prevailed, as he was backed by Lord Dalhousie.
In the beginning of 1853, Henry left for Rajputana and John became
the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab to pursue his policies unhindred.

More recently, Dolores Domin has argued that measures against
the feudal forces of the Punjab were in keeping with the general policy

*Lecturer, Department of History, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

1. S.S. Thornbum, The Punjab in Peace and War, Patiala, 1970 (reprint), p. 179.

2. N.M. Khilnani, British Power in the Punjab 1839-1858, Bombay, 1972, pp. 188;
185-93.

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of the British in India and did not result from either the personal
notions of John Lawrence or the ambitions of Lord Dalhousie. The
jagir policy of Lord Dalhousie was in fact less rigid and uncompromi-
sing than Hardinge’s. The objective of undermining the general position
of the ruling class in the social order was kept in view, but the decisions
taken were rathar pragmatic. “No rent-free tenure should be continued
in favour of any man who has taken up arms against the British
Government, whether by choice or compulsion,’ and a maximum
amount of 300 rupees per month could be given to a 'rebel’ as pension.
Within six months of the annexation, jagirs worth about 1,257,500
rupees were confiscated, and pensions worth only about 58,300 were
given to the disposed persons. But there were many jagirdars who had
remained neiitral in the war or actually supported the British. In their
case, generally, personal jagir was given for life but service jagir was
resumed. In many cases, jagir was replaced by a cash pension. The
powers of the jagirdar over the proprietors of land were neutralized
through several measures: assessment in cash was introduced in the
jagir lands as well as the khalisa ; the cultivator was made responsible
for paying the land revenue; the jagirdars were deprived of their police
powers; and they were made equal before the law. The social status
of the jagirdars suffered not only because of the reduction in jagirs
but also because the changed character of the jagir. Thus, the change
introduced by the new rulers was important not only quantitatively but
also qualitatively. 3

If these progressive measures were taken to encourage economic
progress they were gradually retracted after the uprising of 1857-58 in
political interest. The expected lapses were counterbalanced by new
grants, so that the total amount of assigned revenues in 1859-60 was
larger than in the early 1850s. Out of 3,300,000 rupees assigned to
all and sundry, 1,400,000 rupees or about 42 per cent were assigned in
perpetuity. 4 The process may be illustrated with reference to the case to
an important jagirdar, Sardar Shamsher Singh Sandhanwalia. After
the annexation of his personal jagirs amounting to 40,250 rupees were
upheld for life, and a quarter was to descend to his male issue in
perpetuity. His service jagir of 30,250 rupees was resumed. In 1857,
Shamsher Singh raised a troop of 125 horsemen, which formed a part
of Hodson’s Horse, to serve the British during the uprising. Early in

3. Dolores Domin, India in 1857-59; A Study in the Role of the Sikhs in the Peoples,
Uprising, Berlin, 1977, pp. 71-85. Cf. James Douie, Punjab Land Administration,
Chandigarh, 1972 (reprint), pp. 45-50.

, Dolores Domin, op. cit., pp, 97-98.

110

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFIDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

1862, the portion of his jagir to descend in perpetuity was raised from
one-fourth to two-thirds, and he was given full revenue, civil and
criminal powers of a Deputy Commissioner in his jagir.

Trevaskis refers to the feeling of the British administrators after
the uprising of 1857-58 that ‘the landed aristocracy should be
maintained,’ and goes on to add that in fact the splitting up of
estates through inheritance became a source of fear. ‘Orders were
accordingly issued that in the case of all new assignments granted by
Government, the rule of primogeniture should be followed and
proposals were also made for its application to the older estates.’ 8
The Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act, IV of 1900, was meant to amend,
section 8 of the Punjab Laws Act of 1872 in respect of the descent
of jagirs. Its purpose was to encourage ‘devolution of the assignment
of 'land-revenue to a single person as impartible property.’ 7 By the
late' 1930s, 153 jagirs were ‘not fled’ under this Act. 8 To keep the
jagirs under good management was as important as to keep them in
One piece. The Punjab Court of Wards Act was passed in 1903 to
amend the law relating to the court of wards in the province. Ti e
Financial Commissioner was henceforth to be the Court of Wards
either directly or through the Commissioner of the Division or the
Deputy Commissioner of the District by delegating any of its powers
to them. Any landholder could apply to the government for his
property to be placed under the superintendence of the Court of
Wards. The government itself could take initiative in this regard in
the case of persons incapable of managing or unfit to manage their
affairs, as by the reason of being a female, owing to any physical or
mental defect or infirmity, owing to his having been convicted of a
non-bailable offenee and to his vicious habits or bad character, or
owing to his having entered upon a course of wasteful extravagance
likely to dissipate his property. 9 The operation of this Act was care-
fully watched and reported every year, in 1928-29, for example, four

5. G.L. Chopra (ed.), Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab, Lahore, 1940,
p. 409.

6. Hugh Kennedy Trevaskis, The Land of the Five Rivers, Oxford University Press,
1928, p. 258.

7. Punjab Land Aministration Acts and Rules Having the Force of Law Thereunder,
Lahore. 1933, 1, “The Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act 1900,” pp. 3-5.

8. Report on the Land Revenue Administration of the Punjab for the year ending
the 30th September, 1939, Lahore, p. 1940, 13; Report on the Land Revenue
Administration of the Punjab for 1939-40, Lahore, 1941, p. 15-

9. Punjab Land Revenue Administration Acts, I, “The Punjab Court of Wards
Act, 1903,” pp. 5-6.

Ill

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

estates were taken over and six released to reduce the total number
of estates under the Court of Wards from 50 to 48. However, the
cultivated area under the Court of Wards increased from 166, -666 to
nearly 200,000 acres, with an increase in the amount of land revenue
involved from 220,000 to 240,000 rupees. With the exception of the
large estate of Mamdot, there was little tendency to adopt improved
methods of agriculture; it was suggested, therefore, that scientific
agriculture should be introduced in the estates under the Court of
Wards to increase production and to set an example for other
cultivators. 10 Three years later, the number of estates under the
Court of Wards was 61 and their income amounted to 1,730,000
rupees. But the attempt to extend official assistance to heavily
encumbered estates on the application of the owners had involved
the Court of Wards in ‘problems of difficulty and complexity.’ 11

At the beginning of British rule in the Punjab, it appeared that
in no region in the east did feudalism prevail more then in the
kingdom founded by Ranjit Singh. ‘A large section of the Maha-
rajah’s army consisted of cavalry contingents, furnished by chieftains
holding grants on feudal tenure. And even a part of the regular
troops received their pay in jagirs instead of cash. In the same
manner, that is by assignments on the revenue, the civil officers of
state and the royal household for the most part were paid; state
pensioners, the families of military chiefs, and old soldiers, and the
ladies of the royal palace were supported; endowments for objects of
sanctity, charitable donations, and annuities to religious characters
were granted for the same objects, pensions were conferred.’ 12 All the
grants in cash and kind were classified by the Board of Administration
into three categories: service grants, personal grants and religious
grants. Enquiries were made, principles of reduction were formulated,
and procedures were evolved to deal with all kinds of grants. The
liabilites which the new rulers had inherited from the old could not
be set aside altogether because of ‘political expediency.’ ‘On the whole,
the temporary alienation of revenue under the two heads of jagirs and
pensions will amount to upwards of thirty lacs per annum,’ said the
report, ‘that is, to more than a fifth of the total revenue.’ 13

10. Punjab Administration Report, 1929-30, Lahore, 1931, pp. 23-24.

11. Punjab Administration Report, 1932-33, Lahore, 1935, p. 20.

12. General Report upon the Administration of the Punjab Proper for the years
1849-50 and 1850-51, Ca le Utta , 1853, pp. H9-20.

13. Ibtd., p. 124.

112

THE JAG1RDARS AND MUAFJDARS IN THF. UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

By 1939-40, when the total revenue from land in the Punjab was
over 50 millions of rupees, the percentage of assigned revenue was
less than 8%. But this reduction in percentage was largely due to
the increase in the revenue from land, which was more than three
fold. Only one-fifteenth of the cultivated land was under assignments.
It is significant, however, that the bulk of the revenue assigned was
held in perpetuity, 3,032,201 rupees out of the total of 3,608,050
rupees. Nearly 200,000 rupees stood assigned for life and over 500,000
rupees for the term of the settlement. The total revenue assigned
covered serveral purposes: maintenance of public servants for services
to be performed, maintenance of religious institutions, public purposes
which were rather secular in character, and for the private benefit of
individuals without any obligation to service. The most important
of all these were the assignments for ‘private benefit without any
obligation of service,’ claiming more than half of the total assigned
revenue. 14 The beneficiaries of these assignments were mostly the
descendants of the jagirdars of the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and
his successors. The reduction of their share in the land-revenue from
over 23 per cent of the total to less than one-twentieth of the total
was an index of the relative decline in their politico-administrative
and social importance after nearly a century of colonial rule in the
Punjab. In terms of numbers they formed the smallest but the most
important section of the Punjab population even in the 1940s.

The Upper Bari Doab was a stronghold of the jagirdars and we
may expect them a priori to figure in the settlement reports and
gazetteers of the districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar. In the pargana
of Adinanagar (later, tahsil Gurdaspur) in 1850 there were 598 mahals
in all worth over 267,000 rupess of revenue. Of these, 369 were in the
khalisa, and 190 in jagirs, while the remaining 39 were shared between
the khalisa and the jagir. In the year following, 10 jagir mahals were
resumed and 9 more became ‘shared.’ After the settlement, there were
153 jagir mahals assessed at 60,931 rupees, the average rate per acre of
cultivation working out to 1-11-3 rupees. Of these jagir villages, 94 were
supposed to be miscellaneous, but the remaining 59 were clearly
assigned to some important jagirdars, like Sardar Lehna Singh, Sodhis
Partap Singh and Bishan Singh, the Mahant of Pindori, Sardar Didar
Singh Veglia and Raja Tej Singh. 15 In tahsil Gurdaspur as the

14. Report on the Land Revenue Administration of the Punjab 1930-40, Lahore,
1941, Statement X.

15. Report on the Revised Settlement of the Greater Part of the District of
Gurdaspur, Lahore, 1859, pp. 22-23.

113

VOL. XXVI-1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

reconstituted pargana of Adinanagar a few years later, there were 259
jagir mahals out of the total of 706, while 46 others were ‘shared.’ The
total amount of assigned revenue was about 156,000 rupees. 16

In the pargana of Batala in 1850, there were 681 mahals in all, of
which 332 were jagir mahals and 37 were ‘shared.’ After the settlement
no less than 299 mahals remained under jagirs, with their revenues
assessed at more than 188,000 rupees and amounting to a third of the
total revenues. It is interesting to note that the average rate per
cultivated acre was 2-0-2 rupees in the jagir lands as against 1-12-6
rupees per acre in the malguzari lands. Probably, the villages held
by jagirdars were the more fertile villages. While 186 villages worth
about 104,000 rupees a year were assigned to less known figures, 1 13
Villages worth over 84,500 rupees were held by well known persons
like Raja Dina Nath, Raja Tej Singh, Sardar Lehna Singh, Rai Kishan
Chand Bhandari, Sardar Shamsher Singh, Darogha Amir Bakhsb,
Sardars Jaimal Singh and Jawahar Singh, Mahant Bhagwan Das of
Dera Tahli Sahib, and Baba Mihan Singh. Some resumptions and
lapses took place a few years later. 17 At the time of the regular
settlement, there were 162 mahals in jagir and 38 were ‘shared,’ with
the total revenue in assignment amounting to about 120,000 rupees,
which was only a little less than the third of the total revenues. 18
In tahsil Pathankot at the time of the regular settlement there were
181 mahals in all, of which 49 were in jagir and 26 were ‘shared.’
The assigned revenue of about 29,000 rupees formed a little less than
a third of the total revenues of about 92,000 rupees. 19

In the pargana of Sowrian (later tahsil Ajnala) of Amritsar
District, there were 288 mahals in all, of which 88 were in jagir and
25 were shared in 1852. A year later four of the shared villages stood
revarted to the khalisa so that the number of the khalisa mahals
increased to 179. Out of the total revenues of over 227,500 rupees,
the assigned revenues amounted to about 72,000 rupees or less than
one-third of the total. 20 After the regular settlement the revenues of
the pargana were assessed at about 287,500 rupees of which nearly
141,000 rupees went to assignments, 21 Tn the Sailaba Circle of the
pargana , which had 23 jagir mahals, many of the villages were held in

16. Ibid., p. 14.

17. Ibid., pp. 39-41.

18. Ibid., p. 16.

19. Ibid., pp. 11-12.

20. Report on the Revised Settlement of the Amritsar District, Lahore, 1860, p. 27.

21. Ibid., p. 132.

114

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFIDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

jagir by Sardar Shamsher Singh Sandhanwalia. In Betwala Circle,
which contained 27 jagir mahals, the principal jagirdars were Shamsher
Singh Sandhanwalia and Kahan Singh Attariwala. In Utarwala
Circle, which had 21 jagir mahals, the most important assignee was
Sardar Lehna Singh. 22 In the rest of the circles the assignees were
much less prominent.

In tahsil Amritsar in 1852, there were 472 mahals in all, of which
136 were in jagir and 30 were shared. A year later, with no change
in the number of villages in each category, the total revenues amounted
. to over 507,500 rupees, of which nearly 141,000 repees went to assign-
ments, accounting for more than a quarter of the total revenues. 23
After the regular assessment, the total revenues amounted to a little
over 365,000 rupees, and jagirs accounted for a little over 95,500
rupees or a little more than a quarter of the total. Resumptions worth
over 28,000 had been made before the close of the settlement. 24 Most
of the jagir villages in tahsil Amritsar were in the cricles of Jandiala
and Nehri. The principal jagirdars were the Majithia, Mananwala
and Sandhanwalia Sardars. 25

In the pargana of Tarn Taran in 1850, out of 348 mahals of the
pargana 89 were in jagir. In 1852, the number of assigned acres in
the pargana was 95,820 out of a total of 286,510 under cultivaiion.
In the pargana as it was reconstituted after 1852, there were 103 jagir
mahals out of 357 in all. 29 After the settlement, the assigned revenue
amounted to about 73,500 rupees in the total revenue of about 205,700
rupees, accounting for more than one-third of the revenues of the
pargana , 27 The principal jagirdars in the pargana were Sardar Gulab
Singh Pahuwindia, Sardar Kirpal Singh Malwai, Raja Tej Singh,
Sardar Hardit Singh Padhania, Sardar Lehna Singh Majithia, Sardar
Arjan Singh Chahal, Sardar Jaimal Singh Kamla, and the widow of
Sardar Gulab Singh Manhalia. It is also interesting to note that some
of the dharmarth grantees were included among the principal jagirdars,
like the 'pujaris’’ of Tarn Taran and the Akal Bunga, and Mai Prem
Kaur of Goindwal. 28 This impression is confirmed when we look at
the names of the assignees for different circles of the pargana. In Mahin
Bangar Circie, there was Bhai Parduman Singh among the assignees;

22. Ibid., pp. 27, 32 and 34.

23. Ibid., p. 17.

24. Ibid., pp. 132 and 17.

25. Ibid., pp. 22 and 23.

26. Ibid , p. -38.

27. Ibid., p. 132.

28. Ibid., p. 54 .

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

in the Upder Majha Circle, there were Kuldip Singh Pujari, Charhat
Singh Nihang, Bhai Jassa Singh Granthi and Bhais Nidhan Singh,
Hukam Singh and Kaur Singh, besides the Darbars of Tarn Taran and
Khadur; in the Central Majha Circle, there were Baba TJpar Singh,
Sadh Mangal Singh and Baba Buta Singh, among others; in the Lower
Majha Circle, there were Babas Daya Ram and Mayia Ram; in the
Khara Majha Circle, there were Mahants Narmukh Das, Bala Nand
and Kishan Dev; and in the Bet and Bangar Circle, there were
Brahmans. 29 One important implication of including large dharmarth
grantees in the jagirdars was to reduce the amount shown under mu' aft.

In the six parganas of the districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar
falling in the Upper Bari Doab in the late 1850s, the total number of
jagirdars was 1772. They held 502 whole villages in jagir shared 205
villages with the khalisa, and had shares in the revenues of 93 other
villages. They paid more than 74,000 rupees a year as nazrana, and
received the net assigned revenye of about 426,500 rupees. Nearly

291.000 rupees of the assigned revenue were granted for life, about

27.000 rupees for two generations, and about 109,000 rupees in perpe-
tuity. The land alienated in revenue consisted of wells and plots as
well as whole villages and parts or shares of villages. The total number
of jagirdars was larger in the district of Gurdaspur than in Amritsar,
but the amount of assigned revenue was more in Amritsar than in
Gurdaspur. 80 The majority of the principal jagirdars belonged to
the district of Amritsar, now as in pre-colonial days. The mu'afis
were in addition to these jagirs, and so were the pensions given to
‘widows, orphans, mistresses, courtiers, servants of the former Govern-
ment, and some Military or Civil servants or other parties who have
deserved well of our own,’ amounting to over 100,000 rupees. The
parganas of Amritsar and Batala accounted for more then half of
the this amount. 31

Ill

Comparable figures are not available for the rest of the 19th and
the early 20th century, but there is enough information on jagirs and
jagirdars in the settlement reports and gazetteers of the period. In
tahsil Pathankot, for instance, there were 864 jagirdars in 1889-90,
only 15 of whom held unconditional jagirs in perpetuity, while 326
heldyagiM in perpetuity on conditions, 250 of the assignees were ‘for

29. Ibid., pp. 74, 83, 89, 94, 99 and 103.

30. R-N. Cust, Statistical Report of the Amritsar Division, Lahore, 1861, Appendix
XIX.

31. Ibid., p. 4 and Appendix XXI.

116

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFIDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

life’ and 8 for the term of the settlement, while 265 held jagirs during
the pleasure of the government. 38 The area assigned in jagir was
8,303 acres, with the assessed revenue of 9,935 rupees. Certain
changes had obviously taken place after the previous settlement.
The large jagir of Sardar Lehna Singh stood resumed since the 1850s;
the jagir of Sardar Jassa Singh of Naushahra Nangal stood resumed
in part since the 1860s; the jagirs of a Kanhiya family stood resumed
with the exception of 143 rupees in favour of the sons of Khushal
Singh and Narain Singh. Some of the notable jagirdars in 1889-90
were Sardar Basawa Singh of Naushahra Nangal, Raja Indar Deo of
Jammu and some representatives of the Path ania family of Shahpur.
As it may be expected, some religious institutions and personages
were also included in the assignees, like the Darbar Sahib and the
Akal Bunga at Amritsar, the Thakurdwara at Dhamtal, Mahant
Madho Nath of Jakhbar, the Vaishnave establishment at Talibpur
Pindori, and the Bedis of Dera Baba Nanak. The jagir of Sardar
Sahib Singh Veglia stood much reduced and divided among his
descendants, amounting in all to 808 rupees a year in place of the
original six villages. 33

The number of jagirdars in tahsil Gurdaspur in 1889-90 was
much larger than in Pathankot. Of the 1,915 assignees in all, 76
held assignments in perpetuity free of any conditions, but 371 of the
jagirdars holding assignments in perpetuity were subject to certain
conditions; 771 of the assignees were ‘for life’ and 695 during the
pleasure of the government, while only two were for the term of the
settlement. The total area assigned was about 18,600 acres/assessed at
35,127 rupees. Of this assessed amount 35,053 rupees formed the
assigned revenue, indicating clearly that the entire area was assigned
almost completely. The number of jagirdars who paid nazrana was
742. 34 In about four decades, the area assigned in jagir was reduced
from over 77,000 acres to less than 19,000 and the amount of jagir
was reduced from nearly 155,000 rupees to less than 35,500 rupees. 36
Obviously, lapses and resumptions took place on a large scale. Among
those whose fortunes suffered during these decades were Raja Tej
Singh, Raja Dina Nath, Rai Kishan Chand, Sardar Jaimal Singh
Randhawa of Khunda, Sardar Gulab Singh Bhagowalia, and Sodhis
Bishan Singh and Partap Singh. 38

32. Assessment Report of the Pathankot Tahsil , Lahore, 1891, Statement III.

33. Ibid., pp. 17-18.

34. Assessment Report of the Gurdaspur Tahsil, Lahore, 1891, Statement III and 13.

35. Ibid., p, 13.

36. Ibid., p. 14.

117

VOL, XXVH THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

The number of assignees in tahsil Batala in 1888-8? was 596,
and the area assigned ‘in whole of in part’ was 4,815 acres. Of the
assessed revenue of 6,885 rupees, the amount given in assignments was
6,491 rupees, and 396 of the jagirdars paid nazranaP This tahsil
witnessed probably the largest reduction in the assigned revenue over
the past four decades. In the beginning it was much encumbered
with grants because ‘the principal Sikh Sardars naturally were anxious
to have their jagir fields assigned to them in so favoured a tract, which
, was also close to their homes.’ The process by which the reduction
in the amount of assigned revenues took place comes out clearly in
the settlement report of 1889. On the death of Sardar Lehna. Singh
Majithia in 1854, all his jagirs in the tahsil were resumed with the
exception of over 3,000 rupees which were continued in favour of his
son Sardar Dial Singh Majithia. On the death of Raja Dina Nath in
1857, his son Diwan Amar Nath succeeded in getting a cash grant of

4.000 rupees but all the jagirs of his father in tahsil Batala were
resumed. The jagir of Raja Tej Singh was resumed upon his death
and the jagir of his cousin. Raja Harbans Singh, son of Jamadar
Khushal Singh, was resumed in 1883 when his widow was given a cash
pension. The jagir of Sardar Shamsher Singh Sandhanwalia, amounting
to only 4,894 rupees in the tahsil, was resumed on his death. By the
time of the settlement of 1865, the assigned revenue had been reduced
from about 119,000 to about 103,000 rupees, but by the time of the
settlement of 1889-90, it was reduced to less than 27,000 rupees. The
principal grants now covered only 33 villages. The principal assignees
were Raja Sir Sahib Dial, Sardar Mangal Singh Ramgarhia, Bhai
Parduman Singh as Superintendent of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar,
Sardar Lai Singh of Talwandi, Sardar Bhup Singh Bagga and his
brother, Sardar Gulab Singh Bhagowalia, Sardar Dial Singh Majithia,
Sardar Harcharan Das and Mahant Ragho Das of Dhianpur. Among
the ‘miscellaneous’ assignees were Bedis, Bhallas and Sayyids. 3 ®

For Gurdaspur District as a whole, the figures of assigned revenue
are quite telling. At the time of the first regular settlement in the
1850s, the assigned revenue amounted to over 366,000 rupees. At the
time of the settlement of 1865, this amount stood reduced to about

212.000 rupees. In 1890-91, the assigned revenue Was only about

92.000 rupees. The important jagirdars of the district in 1890-91 were
Thakur Harkishan Singh of Kishankot who was a grandson of Raja
Sahib Dial, Sardar Rachhpal Singh of Bhagowal, Sardar Dial Singh

37. Assessment Report of the Batala Tahsil, Lahore, 1889, Statement No. 5.

38. Ibid., pp. 20-21.

118

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFlDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1.849-1947

■Majithia, the Bagga Sardars Ishar Singh and Jiwan Singh, Sardar
-Basawa Singh of Naushahra Nangal and Axnar Singh of the same
jfamily, Sardar Tara Singh Randhawa of Khunda, Raja Indar Deo of
Akhrota, and Sardar Harnam Singh -Veglia and others of the same
.family. They held jagirs worth over 25,000 rupees a year. It is
interesting to note that dharmartli .granths included in jagirs also
amounted to about 24,000 rupees a year. Notable among the persons
.and institutions receiving these .assigned revenues were the Darbar
Sahib at Amritsar, the .Darbar Sahib at Dera Baba Nanak, the Tahli
Sahib shrine at Dera Baba Nanak, the Akhara of Gian Das in
.Amritsar, the Mahant of Nainakqt, the establishments at Pindori,
Dhianpur and D-hamtal, the Jogis of Jakhbar, the shrine of Shaikh
.Badmddin at Mpsanian, the custodians of.the tombs of Mauj Darya
and Shahabuddin Nahra, the shrine at Kot Mian Sahib, Bhai Nand
Gopal, the Mahants of Gurdaspur, Spdhis Nihal Singh, Man Singh
and Atma Singh, and the Granthis of Triloknath in Kangra originally
established by Sardar Lehna Singh Majithia. 39

About two decades later, the number of assignments in tahsil
Pathankot was 216, assessed at less than 12,400 rupees a year. Much
of the assigned revenue was:held. in perpetuit.y . by 144 assignees. There
,were 27 jagirdars who held assignments worth less than 1,000 rupees
j for life, and-the:_amgunt of 39 assignments for life was less than 1,500
■ rupees. There were half a dozen other assignments worth less than
.150 rupees, in all. In tahsil Gurdaspur, the number of assigness was
, 385 and ;.they held lands worth nearly 29,000 rupees a year. Much
of this amount, over 23,000 'rupees, stood assigned in perpetuity in
favour of 285 assignees. In tahsil Batala, to total number of assignees
was 352, and out of the total assigned revenue of over 37,000 rupees
. about 34,400 rupees went to 203 assigness in perpetuity. The total
number of assigness in the three tahsils was 953, and the total assigned
, revenue was about 78,500 rupees. The assignments, according to the
.settlement officer, were much more carefully examined now than ever
before, and in his judgement there was a reduction of nearly 25 per
cgnt in; the. assigned revenue for the district as a whole. 10 There were
7 provincial Darbaris in Gurdaspur District before the World War
First, and the, leading: families of the district were these of Raja Sant
Singh of Akhrota. Sardar Gopal Singh of Bhagowal,. Sardar Hari Singh

-39. Final- Report of the. Revised Settlement of She Gurdaspur district, Lahore, 1892,

pp. 59-60. '

40. Final Report of the Revision of the Settlement of the Gurdaspur-District,- Lahore,
1912, p. 31.

119

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

of Rangar Nangal, Rai Sheo Singh Bhandari, Sardar Hari Singh of
Talwandi Lai Singh, Sardar Sarup Singh of Fatehgarh, Sardar Bhagwan
Singh Panjhatha, Sardar Moti Singh of Chashma, Sardar Harnam
Singh Bagga, -Sardar Amrik Singh of Khunda and Mirza Sultan
Ahmed of Kadian. All these families were included in the 1911 edition
of the Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab.

It is interesting to note, however, that the author of the- gazetteer
of Gurdaspur District thought that there were several other leading men
in the district whose names were worthy of being recorded. Zaildar
Kishan Singh of Bham, who had helped the administration generally,
was a Honorary Magistrate with the title of Sardar Sahib. Sardar
Bahadur Dial Singh Man was Deputy Collector in the Canal depart-
ment. Narain Singh of Singhpura, which he had newly founded, was
a Sardar Sahib. His son Kishan Singh was a zaildar. Mian Alam
Khan of Kala Afghanan did valuable work for the cooperative
movement. Mian Gulam Farid of Batala did useful work as an Extra
Assistant Commissioner. Mian Nazar Muhiyuddin was the head of an
important religious institution in Batala. Mehr Amirullah of Kalanaur,
Lala Devi Dial of Kahnuwan and Mahant Bisheshar Nath of
Gurdaspur were Honorary Magistrates. For similar reasons, several
other names are recorded, like Mirza Niaz Beg of Hakimpur near
Kalanpur, the Tangral Rajput Chaudharis of Kathlaur and Chaudhari
Mihr Singh. 41 From the way in which all these names are recorded it
is evident that they were the new men to become important during the
new regime. They were not the descendants of the jagirdars of the
days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors. They were thrown
up by the changed circumstances of the new regime almost as rivals to
the surviving jagirdars.

In Amritsar District in the early 1890s, the area assigned in jagir
was over 155,500 acres, and the total assigned revenue was over 206,500
rupees a year. The largest area assigned was in tahsil Tarn Taran, with
more than 68,000 of its cultivated acres under jagir, the smallest area
assigned was in tahsil Ajnala, amounting to less than 31,000 acres; in
tahsil Amritsar the area assigned was about 50,500 acres. However,
the largest amount of assigned revenue was in tahsil Amritsar, with
over 80,500 rupees, followed by tahsil Tarn Taran with about 65,500
rupees. In tahsil Ajnala, the amount of assigned revenue was a little
less than 60,500 rupees. Much of the assigned revenue in the district
as a whole was assigned in perpetuity, either free of any condition

41. Gazetteer of Gurdaspur District, Lahore, 1915, pp. 55-56.

120

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAF/DARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

or subject to conditions; the total amounted to about 173,000 rupees.

T he revenue assigned for life or lives was over 29,000 rupees. The
rest of the assigned revenue was less than 4,500 rupees. 42 Among tpe
large assignees were the Raja of Kapurthala and Sardar Balwant Singh
of Attari in tahsil Tam Taran, besides the Darbar at Tarn Taran,
Among the smaller assignees in this tahsil were Sardar Arjan Singh
Chahal, Sardar Dial Singh Majithia, Bhai Gulab Singh Arora, Mahant
Niranjan Das and the Mahant of the Sikh temple at Chola. In tahsil
Amritsar, the chief assignments were those of Sardar Dial Singh
Majithia, Sardar Gulzar Singh Kalianwala, Raja Harbans Singh arid
the Sardars of Mananwala, besides the Golden Temple and the Aka 1
Bunga at Amritsar. In tahsil Ajnala, the largest jagir was that of
Sardar Bakhshish Singh Sandhanwalia, containing some of the best and
most heavily assessed villages of the tahsil. Two villages were assigned
in the tahsil to the Raja of Kapurthala, and half of the village Ramdas
was assigned to its Mahant. Smaller grants were enjoyed by Bhai Tara
Singh, Sardar Randhir Singh and the Attari family. 43

During the settlement of Amritsar District before the World War
First, a considerable number of grants were found to be ‘liable to
resumption for persistent and flagrant breach of conditions.’ 44 The
value of assignments slightly declined in spite of the increase in
assestment, obviously because of the resumptions. The number of
assignees in tahsil Amritsar was 358 who enjoyed revenues worth ovrir
73,000 rupees; in tahsil Tarn Taran, the number of assignees was
269 and they enjoyed revenues worth nearly 67,000 rupees; and in
tahsil Ajnala though the number of assignees was 287 they enjoyed
revenues worth about 59,000 rupees. Much of the assigned revenrie
was held in perpetuity, amounting to over 186,000 rupees. The amount
of revenue aliented for life or lives was less than 12 000. The remaili-
ing assigned revenue was less than 1 ,400 rupees. No new assignment
was made during the settlement of 1910- 1914. 45 The principal assignees
in Amritsar District before the World War First were still the well
known Sardars of the Sandhanwalia, Attariwala and the Majithia
families, with Sardar Raghbir Singh, Sardar Balwant Singh and Sardar

42. Gazetteer of Amritsar District 1892-93 (revised edition), p. 55. Also, Assessment
Report of the Tarn Taran Tahsil, 1891, Lahore, p. 14; Assessment Report of the
Anjala Tahsil, Lahore, 1892, p. 61; Assessment Report of the Amritsar Tahsil
Lahore, 1892, p. 62.

43. S.R. Amritsar District Lahore, 1893, p. 55.

44. Final Report on the Fourth Regular Settlement of the Amritsar District 1910 - '
1914, Lahore, 1914, p. 38.

45. Ibid., pp. 38-39.

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THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Dial Singh as the most eminent members respectively of these three
"families. 46

Sardar Raghbir Singh was the only son of Sardar Bakhshish
Singh who had been adopted as his son by Sardar Shamsher Singh
Sandhanwalia. A provincial Darbari, Sardar Raghbir Singh enjoyed
an assignment of nearly 37,000 rupees from 23 villages in tahsil
Ajnala. He owned over 40;000 kanals of land in the districts of
Amritsar, Lahore and Sialkot. He was connected by matrimony with
Sardar Mahtab Singh Majithia and the Raja .of Faridkot. Sardar
BalwantSingh Sandhanwalia was connected with Sardar-Raghbir Singh,
and enjoyed a jagir in the district worth over 5, 500, rupees. .The
natural father of Sardar Bakhshish Singh, Sardar Thakur Sirjgh
Sandhanwalia had died at Pondicherry in 1887 as, an exile but his son
Sardar Gurbachan Singh, who at one time was a statutory civilian
officer in the Punjab, was allowed to reside in Delhi. The ,/ng/r of the
family of Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhanwalia stood resumed because
of his association with Maharaja Dalip. Singh who was threatening to
return to the Punjab as a re-converted Khalsa. 17

Sardar Balwant Singh Attariwala was a grandson of the famous
Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala who had .died fighting in the First
Anglo-Sikh War. His father, Sardar Ajit Singh, had. been a prominent
figure of the district for long, as. an .Honorary Magistrate, an .Honorary
Assistant Commissioner and -President of the Amritsar Local Board-
Sardar Balwant Singh was the eldest of his five sons, and he was
educated at the Aitchison College, popularly known as the Chiefs
College, at Lahore. The property of his father, valued at 5, lakhs of
rupees was divided amongst all the brothers, but the jagir worth, about
12,000 rupees devalued upon Sardar Balwant Singh. The fourth son
of Sardar Ajit Singh, Sardar, Jaswant Singh recevied a direct commis-
sion in the 11th K.E.O. Lancers and was a Risaldar. The youngest
son of Sardar Ajit Singh, Basant Singh was in the Imperial Cadet
Corps and having died in 1905 was succeeded in his jagir by: his.minor
son Mahendra Singh . There were two other branches of the Attariwala
family represented by Nihal Singh and Amar Singh. The former was
a grandson of -Sardar Chattar Singh who was the most prominent
figure in the anti-British uprising of 1848-49. Nihal Singh was educated
at Cambridge, and held property worth 25,000 rupees a year in
Uttar Pradesh. Sardar Amar Sing’s ta’ alluqa in Awadh was worth

46. Amritsar District Gazetter, Lahore, 1914, pp. 41-44.

47. Ibid., pp. 41-42.

122

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFIDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947
25,000 rupees a year. 48

Sardar Dial Singh Majithia was the only son of Sardar Lehna
Singh Majithia who, like his ow" father Sardar Desa Singh Majithia,
was a man of mark in the early 19th century. Sardar Dial Singh went
to England after resigning an Honorary Magistrateship at Amritsar.
After his return from England, he started residing at Lahore, taking
interest in social reform and constitutional politics. Before his death
in 1893, without an issue, he left all his ancestral property to his first
cousin Sardar Gajendra Singh, who himself died in 1903 leaving behind
an infant daughter besides his widow. The rest of Sardar Dial Singh’s
property, amounting to some 25 lakhs of rupees, was devoted to
various public and charitable purposes. The chief of his bequests
were for the Dial Singh College, the Dial Singh Library and The
Tribune.

The second branch of the Majithias was represented by the sons
of Raja Surat Singh who had remained under cloud for some time
after the annexation because of his alleged or real complicity in the
uprising of 1848-49. He had done signal service, however, in 1857-58
when he was severely wounded fighting on the side of the British.
He received a large jagir in Gorakhpur District in Uttar Pradesh as
a reward for his services. He was allowed to return to Majitha with
the title of Raja. Upon his death in 1881, he was succeeded by his
sons Umrao Singh and Sundar Singh, both educated at the Aitchison
College at Lahore. Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia came into much
greater prominence than his brother. He was connected with the
Raja of Faridkot and the Chief of Bhadaur through matrimony, was
a Fellow of the Panjab University, and a member of the Provincial
Legislative Council. He was intimately connected with the Singh
Sabha reform and Sikh education, and he was to remain a representa-
tive of the Sikh -community in the Unionist ministries. The third
branch of the Majithias was much less important than the other two
and its important members served in the army. 49

The account of the families of the Sandhanwalia, Attariwala and
the Majithia Sardars indicates that though all of them went down in
relative terms, some of them adjusted themselves better to the changed
situation than others. This was true of the other jagirdars of the
district. Sardar Gulzar Singh Kalianwala, a ' descendant through
adoption of the well known Sardar Fateh Singh of Kala Ghanupur

48. Ibid., pp. 42-43.

49. Ibid., pp. 43-44.

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VOL. XXVI -1 THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

near Amritsar, was an Honorary Magistrate and a provincial Darbari
in the early 20th century, enjoying a jagir worth 14,600 rupees a year
and owning other property in land and houses. Bhai Gurbakhsh
Singh, son of Bhai Parduman Singh, was educated in England and
held a Chair in the Viceregal Darbar; he remained connected with the
Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, like his father and grandfather, and took
active interest in the affairs of Khalsa College at Amritsar. The
younger grandson of Raja Sir Sahib Dial, Thakur Mahan Chand
was an Honorary Magistrate ar.d an Honorary Extra Assistant Commis-
sioner, and a member of the Punjab Legislative Council. He was
also a provincial Darbari. Sardar Bahadur Arur Singh of Naushahra
near Amritsar was an Honorary Magistrate, a provincial Darbari and
Manager of the Golden Temple. For his gcod services in this last
capacity he was made a companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
in 1913, In addition to the family jagir, he held 800 ghumaons of
land in Amritsar District and 33 squares of land in the canal colonies.
The descendants of Sardar Fateh Singh at Mananwala were rather
unimportant in the early decades of the 20th century. The Rasulpuria
Sardars improved upon their position during the period of British
rule by serving the new rulers. Sir Jogendra Singh, who became
nearly as well known in the 20th century as Sir Sundar Singh
Majithia, belonged to this family. Sardar Thakur Singh Dhillon of
Panjwar, a descendant of the redoubtable Sikh Chief Hari Singh
Bhangi, recovered a small part of the ground lost by the Bhangis in
the early If th century. There were a dozen other families in the
district regarded as ‘notable,’ some of them gaining in importance
and others losing. 50

...„, Nearly a quarter of a century later, the situation changed further.
The Sadhanwalia Sardar Raghbir Singh was more interested in his
industrial concerns in Uttar Pradesh than in the affairs of Amritsar
District, but his son Harinder Singh had taken his position, the
value of the family jagir being still over 37,000 rupees a year. Among
the Majithias, the family of. Raja Surat Singh, represented by Sir
Sundar Singh, clearly came up and the family of Sardar Lehna Singh
Majithia clearly went down. Sardar Buta Singh of Naushahra was
maintaining the tradition cf his father Sardar Arur Singh, the last
manager of the Golden Temple. After Sir Sundar Singh’s death in
1941, Sardar Jogendar Singh of Rasulpur appeared to be the most
eminent individual in the realm of politics and government. Sardar
Hardit Singh Dhillon of Panjwar enjoyed considerable respect and

50. Ibid., pp. 44-49.

124

THE JAGIRDARS AND MUAFEDARS IN THE UPPER BARI DOAB, 1849-1947

influence in the district. At Manaiiwala, Sardar Atma Singh re-
covered some of the lost importance. The Attari family was in
eclipse. Some of the other important families had either severed their
connection with the district or had lost in wealth and importance.
In the cities and towns, individuals connected with commerce and
industry had gained in Importance, like Rai Bahadur Lala Duni
Chand, Rai Sahib Lala Bishan Das, Rai Bahadur Gujjar Mai
and Rai Sahib Vaishno Das. New persons in the countryside as
well as in cities and towns had become worthy of mention in the
district, like Zaildar Kapur Singh, Zaildar Dharm Singh, Risaldar
Ajit Singh, Zaildar Chaudhari Shahabudin, Zaildar Chanda Singh,
Zaildar Chaudhari Gulam Rasul, Zaildar Chaudhari Harnam Singh
and Sardar Gopal Singh. The Punjab Legislative Assembly too
was no longer the preserve of the chiefs and families of note. Men
from the new middle class were representing the people of the city
and the district of Amritsar. Among the member of the Assembly
were Mir Maqbul Mahmud, Chaudhari Faqir Husain Khan, Khan
Sahib Fazal Din, Shaikh Sadiq Hasan, Dr Sant Ram Seth, Sardar
Kishan Singh, Sohan Singh Josh and Partap Singh Kairon . 81

We have already noticed that revenue assigned to important
religious personages and institutions was included by the British
administrators in ‘ jagirs .’ The distinctions made was not between
secular and dharmarth grants, or between revenues assigned for service
to the state and charitable purposes, but between large and small
assignments. This distinction became more and more clear with
the passage of time so that all assignments of revenue came to be
divided into two categories : jagirs and mu'afis. The former category
was meant to refer to mainly secular but all large grants and the
latter was meant to refer to small grants of various categories, includ-
ing dharmarth grants.

In the first administration, report of the Punjab there is an
interesting reference to endowments, ‘both secular and religious.’
They were meant for the support of temples, mosques, places of
pilgrimage and devotion, schools, village inns for the reception of
travellers, paupers and strangers, generally of a monastic character.
These institutions are ornaments to the villages; they have some
architectural pretension, and being embosomed in trees, are often the
only shady spots in the neighbourhood. They add much to the
comfort of rustic life and keep alive a spirit of hospitality and piety

51. Amritsar District Gazetteer, Chandigarh (1947), 57-61.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

among the agricultural people.’ 52 Grants given to these institutions
were generally maintained, particularly when they were insignificant
in amount.

In the early settlement reports of the districts of Gurdaspur and
Amritsar, there are reference to revenue from land alienated in favour
of persons other than the ' jagirdars .’ In the parganas of Pathankot,
Gurdaspur and Batala, the total jama’ consisted of four heads: khalisa,
jagir, in’am or in’ am-i-zamindari, and ta’alluqdari , 63 However, the
amount of in’am and ta’alluqdari did not form any important proportion
of the total revenue. In tahsil Batala, for instance, in’am and
ta’alluqdari amounted to only 3,680 rupees in a total revenue of about
.381,000 rupees; the amount of jagirs in the tahsil at this time was about
119,000 rupees. 51 It is clarified in the report on pargana Adinanagar
(later Gurdaspur) that in’am was given to 'privileged headmen’ and
ta’alluqdari dues were payable by the proprietors of particular villages;
the village headman or lambardars generally received 5 per cent of the
revenues collected by them. 55 Forth t pargana of Batala, there is a
reference kept for in’am and ta’alluqdari allowances, which suggests
that the recipients of these allowances did not collect them directly
from the cultivators or proprietors. There is also a reference to
‘resumed maafees.’ 66

In the settlement report of Amritsar District too there are references
to in’am and ta’alluqdari alio wances, and the amounts involved are very
small. The amount of in’am in the pargana of Sowrian, for instance,
was only 1,320 rupees in a total revenue of over 273,000 rupees. The
amount of ta’alluqdari allowances in the pargana of Amritsar was only
234 rupees, while the amount of inam was less than 3,500 rupees in a
total revenue of over 432,000 rupees. There is a reference also to
lakhiraj or petty rent-free tenures, which amounted to about 15,500
rupees in Sowrian, about 19,500 rupees in Amritsar, and to over
12,250 rupees in Tarn Taran. 67 The petty rent-free grants, like the
jagirs, were liable to resumption in certain situations. In 1852 in tahsil
Amritsar, for instance, petty-rent-free grants worth over 6,700 rupees
were resumed. 58 This is understandable because, like the jagirs.

52. P injab Administration Report 1849-51 , Calcutta, 1853, p.123.

53. SR. Gurdaspur District 1859, pp. 5 and 7.

54. Ibid., p. 16.

55. Ibid., pp. 24 and 27-28.

56. Ibid., pp. 40-41.

57. S.R Amritsar District i860, pp. 4 and 6-7.

58. Ibid., p. 17.

126

THE JAGIRDAR.S AND MUAFIDARS IN THE UPPER BAR r DOAB, IS 49 -1-947

the mu’afis were given for life as well as in perpetuity. 69

In his statistical report, R.N. Cust refers to in’amas revenue from
land alienated in favour of lambardars, but he adds chaudharis and
safed-poshes to the list of those who received ' certain portions of
revenue land, known under the former regime as “inams”: their new
grants they will hold of the British Government conditionally on good
local service in times of peace as well as disturbance,- and one of the
family, according to fitness and capacity, will succeed to the privilege,
which will not be divisible under the laws of inheritance.’ 60 Cust
refers to the ta’alluqdars as rather few in number, and having no
concern with the land but getting a quit e-rent. There were actually
159 ta’alluqdars in the tahsils of Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala,
Amritsar, Ajnala and Tarn Taran, receiving less than 2,000 rupees as
quit-rent in addition to about 60 maunds of grain. The lands of which
they were erstwhile owner were in 66 villages. 61 Then there were the
holders of revenue free plots, called mu’afidars. Their total number in
the six tahsils of the Upper Bari Doab was nearly 15,850 and they held
plots of revenue free land in more than 2,600 villages. The area
covered by such alienation of revenue was more than 7 3,000 ghumaons,
and reuenue alienated amounted to nearly 119,000 rupees. The number
of mu’afidars for life was 12,500 and they enjoyed grants worth more
than 88,000 rupees. The number of grantees holding the revenues in
perpetuity was less than 1,400 and they received a little over 15,500
rupees a year. All other grantees got less than 5,000 rupees a year.
Thus, on the whole, the numb er of grantees was pretty large but the
average amount of grant was very small, each grantee on the average
getting less than 8 rupees a year. Those who held grants for life were
the most numerous, creating the possibi lity of reduction in the total
amount of revenue alienated in favour of the mu’afidars , 62

Indeed, in tahsil Pathankot in 1889-90, the number of acres
assigned to petty grantees had fallen to less than 2,600 from nearly
9,000 in the 1850s, and the amount of assigned revenue had fallen to
less than 4,500 rupees from over 15,000 rupees in the 1850s. 63

Similarly in tahsil Gurdaspur, the fall in acres during this period
was from nearly 16,000 to a little less than 6,000; the fall in the amount
of assigned revenue was from nearly 25,000 rupees to a little over 9,000

59. Ibid., pp. 30 and 51.

60. R.N. Cust, Statistical Report, para 29 and Appendix XXII.

61. Ibid., para 16 and Appendix XVI B.

62. Ibid., para 19 and Appendix XX A & B.

63. Assessment Report of the Pathankot Tahsil, Lahore, 1891, p. 17.

127

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THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

rupees. The comment of the settlement officer was that this great
reduction had taken place because most of the petty mu'afis had been
granted for life. 61 On a similar reduction in the acreage and amount
of revenue alienated to petty grantees in tahsil Batala, the settlement
officer remarked that petty grants were becoming rather unimportant. 88
In the settlement report of Gurdaspur District in 1912, there is no
reference to petty grants, though the petty grantees were in existence. 66
This may be regarded as a reflection of their reduced importance.
Already at the previous settlement some of the petty grantees had been
persuaded to become occupancy tenants for the plots they were
holding. 67 In the gazetteer of the district in 1914, the revenue
assignments are equated with jagirs, and about the ta'alluqdars it is
stated that the most notable instances were only two : the Mughals of
Kadian and the Khatris of Kalanaur. 88

In Amritsar District in the early 1890s, there were ’a few scattered
instances of talukdari tenures,’ found mostly in Rajput villages 69 Of
the total assigned revenue, which amounted to over 229,500 rupees, less
than 23,500 rupees went to mu' afidars, and the village service grants
were less than 2,500 rupees. 70 Where the village service grants was less
than three acres and the order of release was for the life of the holder,
orders were issued by the Settlement Collector that the mu'afidar was to
hold the grant till his death. After that the owners of the village had
the liberty to do what they liked with the grant for the rest of the term
of the settlement, including the option to resume it in their own favour. 71
During the settlement of 1910-1914, it was discovered that hundreds of
such g'ants were taken over by the owners but the revenue was not paid
to the government. Therefore the revenue ] assessed was made a part of
the khalisa , 72 With the decreasing amount and importance of the
mu'afis the settlement reports and gazetteers of the 20th century omit
detail of such grants. The interest of the administrators in the in'amdars
was not because of the amount of the alienated revenue involved but
because of the importance of the Lambardars, Zaildars and the safed-
poshes in the administration of the countryside, particularly the revenue
administration.

64. Assessment Report of the Gurdaspur Tahsil , Lahore, 1891 , pp. 13 and 14.

65. Assessmeut Report of the Batala Tahsil, Lahore, 1889, p. 37.

66. SR- Gurdaspur District 1912, pp. 12 and 31. Registers were prepared for mu'afi
grants as well as jagirs, but under ‘revenue assignment’s only jagirs are discussed.

67. S.R. Gurdaspur District 1892, p. 61.

68. Gazetteer of Gurdaspur District, Lahore, 1915, pp. 165 and 177.

69. Gazetteer of Amritsar District 1892-93, p. 69.

70. S.R. Amritsar District 1888-1893, p, 58.

71. Ibid., p. 56.

72. S.R. Amritsar District 1910-1914, p. 39.

128

The Swadeshi Movement in the Punjab

(1904-1907)

Sukhdev Singh Sohal*

In the Punjab constructive Swadeshi in the fields of banking,
insurance and education had roots to the 1890s and there had been
moves to organise a boycott of foreign cloth after the countervailing
excise of 1895. 1 With the Land Alienation Act of 1901, the availability
of major avenues for investing surplus capital was closed to the urban
middle classes because of their traditionally mercantile background.
Moreover, Lord Curzon’s (1899-1905) arbitrary administrative
measures, provocative remarks in the Calcutta University convocation
address, 2 and e announcement of the Partition of Bengal on 16 October
1905, turned the rising discontent among the educated middle
classes into eloquent protests. They advocated the cause of indigenous
industry by actively supporting the Swadeshi movement. 3 A meeting
was held at Lahore on 17th October 1905 to form the Punjab Swadeshi
Association. The object of the meeting was to encourage and improve
the manufacture and provide information about the indigenous
articles :

(a) by taking pledges;

(b) by opening Indian stores and show rooms;

(d) by introducing machines. 4

In this process of politicization, students and pleaders assumed a
significant role. They advocated Swadeshi and took pledges to use

^Lecturer, Department of History, GND University, Amritsar.

1. Sumit Sarkar, Modern India 1885-1947, Delhi, 1983, pp. 126-27.

Nearly 1500 participants gathered at Town Hall under the leadership of
Lala Murlidhar. Meetings were held at Peshawar, Abbotabad, Rawalpindi,
Jhelum, Sialkot, Wazirabad, Gujranwala, Lyallpur, Ludhiana, Gujrat, Gurdaspur
and Batala.

2. The Panjabee, April 24, 1905.

3. The Tribune, 12 December 1906; The Panjabee, 12 December 1906; Selections
from the Native Newspapers, Punjab 27 January 1907, p. 27 (henceforth cited as
SFVN, PB).

4 . The Panjabbee, 23 October 1905.

129

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THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

home-made goods. Boycott became a weapon par excellence of the
Weak against the strong. 5 Ideological basis of Swadeshi movement
advocated national interest against the interests of British imperialism.
Appeals were made that things made in India must be used by everyone
to the rigid exclusion of all foreign goods. 6 Swadeshi goods meant all
Asiatic goods. Entry of the Japanese goods into Indian market was
welcomed by the Swadeshi leaders. 7 In the absence of Japanese goods
the people might buy French, German made articles but not the goods
made in the United Kingdom. 8

2.1 When the government paid no heed to public meetings, the
boycott of English goods became the nex weapon in the form of
Swadeshi movement which encouraged indigenous industries. The
movement also. brought into politics, among others, the newly emerged
middle classes, especially the educated class, without distinction of
caste and creed. 9 In 1906, the Swadeshi Vastu Parcharak Sabha was
established as a vehicle for the movement. 10 Swadeshi method
boycotting of English goods was considered as perfectly legitimate and
constitutional method of political agitation. 11

2.2 In order to impress upon the people, leaders of the Swadeshi
movement exhibited home-made goods to the audience extolling
their superiority over foreign products. A strike was held in the
Government College, Lahore, where the Principal of the College had
ordered that the students should wear blazers made of English cloth
only. Students went back to their classes only when the Principal
withdraw his orders. 12 In Rawalpindi, Lala Ram Ditta Mai,
Headmaster of the local High School, held meeting of 500 students for

5. Home/ Judicial Confidential-A/Nos. 196-204, May 1906. The Tribune, 14 October;
14 September 1905; The Panjabee, 16 October 1905.

6. The Panjabee, 11 September 1906.

7. The Panjabee, 18 September 1905. A Society was in existence in the early 1880s
in Lahore under the name of Swadeshi Vastu Sabha. It also held meetings
regularly : The Tribune, 21 September 1905.

8. The Panjabee, 11 September 1906.

9. Swadeshi Bandhu, SFVN, PB, 15 December 1906, p. 306. See also. Bipan
Chandra, Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in Modern India (1880-
1805), New Delhi, 1969, p. 122.

10. The Tribune, 12 December 1906; The Panjabee, 12 December 1906. In the
Punjab, Mul Raj had established the first Swadeshi Vastu Pracharni Sabha in
1893 : D.K.. Chaudhary, “Mul Raj : A Progressive Nationalist,’’ Proceedings
of Punjab History Conference, Patiala, 1978, p. 112.

11. Light, Lahore 14 December, SFVN, PB, 15 December 1906; The Panjabee, 17
July 1907.

12. S.R. Sharma, Punjab in the Ferment, New Delhi, 1971, p. 10.

130

THE SWADESHI MOVEMENT IN THE PUNJAB (1904-07)

preaching the use of Swadeshi goods and to cooperate in a big way.
The students took pledge to use home-made goods only. 13 With the
efforts of students, a meeting advocating Swadeshi was held at Lahore
on 23 September 1905. Several students took pledges to use home-
made goods. The speakers on the occasion included Wazir
Mohammad, Lala Balak Ram, Lala Hari Krishan and Ram Narayan
Gupta. 14

2.3. The pleaders played a significant role in advocating the
cause of Swadeshi. A meeting held on 2nd August 1905, which was
addressed by Lala Kanhiya Lai, a pleader, was attended by 200 lawyers
and traders. 16 On 29th September, approximately 1000 people attended
the meeting held under the Chairmanship of Malik Bhagwan Das,
a pleader. On 30 September Mool Chand, again a pleader presided
over a meeting and the people took pledges to use only Swadeshi
goods. However, the government made some arrests to keep down
the tempo of the movement. 16 In an other meeting at Gujranwala on
3rd October, about 200 people, mostly from the educated middle
class, participated. Among them the prominent personalities were
Lala Amarnath, a pleader, Kewal Krishan, M. Illahi Bux, Chet
Singh, P.C. Chatterjee, Lala Hakim Rai and Pandit Kedar Nath
Sharma. 17 Still another meeting was held at Lahore on 12 October
1905, in which 3000 persons participated. It was presided over
by Roshan Lai, Barrister-at-Law. Other speakers included the editor
and the proprietor of local newspapers like the Daily Time and the
Paisa Akhbar , 18 The Swadeshi Vastu Prachar Sabha. Rawalpindi
organised a meeting on 15 October 1905 under the Chairmanship of
Lala Hans Raj Sawhney. Emphasis was put on the non-political
character of the movement. 19

2.4. On 22nd October 1905, both Hindus and Muslims assembled
in Queen’s Garden at Rawalpindi to encourage the use of indigenous
goods. 20 On the same day, the Punjab Swadeshi Association with

13. S.C. Mittal, Freedom Movement in the Punjab (1905-29), New Delhi, 1977,
pp. 26-27.

14. The Panjabee, 16 October 1905; The Tribune, 14 October 1905.

15. The Tribune, 14 September 1905; HomeJJudicial-Confidential-AjNos,, 196-204,
May 1906.

16. Pandit Kanshi Prasad was arrested on 3rd October 1905 for making a speech on
Swadeshi : The Tribune, 10 October 1905.

17. The Panjabee, 1 £ October 1905.

18- The Tribune, 14 October 1905; The Panjabee, 16 October 1905.

19. Ibid., 19 October 1905.

20. Ibid., 24 October 1905.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PAN JAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

professor Ruchi RamSahni as its President convened a mass meeting
at Lahore which was attended by about 8000 persons. Babu K.P.
Chatterjee of The Tribune , Pandit Harnam Singh, Lala Gopinath and
Dr Gokal Chand Narang also advocated the cause of Swadeshi.
The slogans like ‘Swadeshi Yastu ki Jai’ and ‘Bande Matram’ were
raised on the occasion. 21 A vigorous campaign was launched against
the use of foreign sugar because it had entirely superseded the Indian
sugar and there was religious prejudice against it. 52 The people
were reminded that in the absence of a policy of protection, Indians
should buy Indian goods in order to remove the dependence on
foreign manufacturers. Patriotic ‘stores’ were opened to provide
essential goods to the people. 23 The Ludhiana cloth, the Gurjat cloth
and similary other types of indigenous cloth were the manifestation of
the Swadeshi cult. The Kashmiri pattus, the Kulu blankets and
Amritsar shawls where quite popular. 24 In order to contain the
influence of professional middle classes, the government modified the
Rules of Government Servants Conduct Rules 1904 emphasising that
the ‘government servant may not take part in or subscribe in aid of.
any political movement in India or relating to Indian affairs.’ 26

3.1. Though the movement slowed down after 1907, it remained
one of the political and economic weapons to deal with the British
goods. In fact, high virtue was attached to the idea which also
underlined love for the motherland. 26 Due to class interests, however,
the movement remained confined to urban centres. It got wide
publicity because of the control of its protagonists over the local
press. The passivity of rural base and narrow class base of profes-
sional middle classes became conspicuous during the Swadeshi move-
ment. 27 When the controversy over the separation of judicial and
executive functions gained momentum in 1906, it was silenced over a
point that separation would put more powers in the hands of legal

21. The Panjabee, 23 October 1905,

22. Ibid., 6 June 1906.

23. The Tribune, 7 November 1905.

24. The Panjabee, 6 June; 15 December 1906.

25. The Tribune, 2 February 1906,

26. Lala Duni Chand, an advocate of Ambala, reading his paper to the students
entitled ‘What Swadeshism Means,’ said in 1935 that ‘it is an embracing Dharm.
It is not a creed or a slogan. It means love for all Indians’ : The Tribune,
1 March 1935.

27. Sukhdev Singh Sohal, “Professional Middle Classes in the Punjab,” Journal of
Regional History, Amritsar, Vol. Ill, 1982, p. 83.

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THE SWADESHI MOVEMENT IN THE PUNJAB 11904-07)

practitioners who were chief supporters of political bodies. 28 In 1906,
Anjuman-i-Muhibban-i-Watan was formed. Its leaders, Ajit Singh,
Sufi Amba Prasad, Lai a Chand Falak, were forceful writers who
along with Lala Lajpat Rai succeeded in channellising the discont-
entment of rural and urban people into anti-British activity. 29 Ajit
Singh through his speeches appealed to peasantry and commercial
middle classes for channelling their energies against the British rule. 30
At the same time, the pulls of caste, of community, of religion and
consciousness of one’s heritage conditioned political thinking and
actions. 31

3.2. The Swadeshi spirit existed in the Punjab during the late
19th century. However, the Land Alienation Act, Lord Curzon’s
arbitrary measures and Japanese victory over Russia rekindled this
spirit. The partition of Bengal provided immediate spark. It activated
the urban and educated classes in the Punjab. It was delinked from the
Bengal partition issue primarily because it was feared that in case
partition is revoked the Swadeshi struggle would lapse prematurely.
Its non-political character was emphasised to win over the Muslim
sympathesis. However, the movement achieved partial successes in
advancing the cause of economic nationalism. The process of mass
mobilization was initiated which remained confined to urban centres.
The nationalist press reported the proceedings of the mass meetings
extensively.

28. Denzil Ibbetson remarked that the British laws govern most backward people in
India and few ‘advanced’ people should realise this dichotomy. The time is for
strengthening the executive : Ho me/Ju d ic ia l-Conf iden tial-A /Nos. 196-204, May
1906.

29. N.G. Barrier, “Punjab Disturbance of 1907,” The Panjab Past and Present,
Patiala, Vol VIII,. Part II, 1974, pp. 460-97.

30. HomelPolitical-AlNos. 184-235, August 1907.

31. HomelPolitical-AjNos. 241, August 1907. See also, V.N. Datta, Ideology of the
Political Elite in Punjab (1900-20), Sita Ram Kohli Memorial Lectures, Punjabi
University, Patiala, 1977, p. 2.

133

Ghulam Muhayy-ud-Din alias Bute Shah

Dr B hag at Singh*

Ghulam Muhayy-ud-Din alias Bute Shah, the author of Tawarikh-
i-Punjab, was the inhabitant of Ludhiana. He completed his book in
1848. Some writers believe tfiat it was finished in 1842. The author
says that he was asked to write this book by George Russel Clark,
Agent to the Governor-General, who succeeded Lieut. Col. Wade in
1840. Little can be learnt from this chronicle or other sources about
the author but he was apparently employed in the British Agency at
Ludhiana. On more than one occasion Bute Shah visited the Sikh
court in 1837, with a British delegation and was rewarded by Mharaja
Ranjit Singh to which Sohan Lai Suri refers in his Umdat-ut-Tawarikh
in the following words : “Bute Shah visited the court of the Sarkar
(Maharaja Ranjit Singh), along with Munshi Shahamat Ali and was
awarded Rs. 100/- and trays of sweets. 5,1 “Bute Shah visited the
court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh along with Rai Gobind Jas and
Munshi Shahamat Ali and had a talk with the Sarkar about the
cis-Satluj country.” 2 Rai Gobind Jas, Munshi Shahamat Ali an^ Bute
Shah interviewed the Sarkar in the company of Aziz-ud-Din and were
granted robes of honour consisting of seven garments and Rs. 100/-
for Bute Shah.” 8

This Tawarikh (or Tarikh ) consist of muqadama (an introduction),
five daftars and a khatima (epilogue). In the introduction the geogra-
phical condition of the Punjab, its important places, towns and its
products, etc., have been discussed.

Daftar / relates to the Hindu period of Punjab history. Its contents
are derived from religious sources as Shri Bhagwat Gita, Mahabharat,
and other sacred books of the Hindus. This daftar contains an account
of the Hindu Rajas upto Rai Pithora.

Daftar II deals in outline with the Muslim period of Indian

* Punjab Historical Studies Department, Punjabi University, Patiala.

1. Sohan Lai Suri, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Daftar III, Lahore, 1885-89, p. 426.

2. Ibid., p. 430.

3. Ibid., p. 432.

4. Bute Shah, Tawarikh-i-Punjab (1848), MS., Ganda Singh Personal Collection,
Patiala, pp. 1-2.

134

GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

history. It narrates the history of the country from the Ghaznvides
to Emperor Aurangzeb. This section is based on historical treatises
such as, Hahib-ul-Sayyar, Masar-ul- Muluk, Tarikh-i-Yamini, Tarikh-i-
Alfi, Tarikh-i-Ahl-i-Asir, Tarikh-Banakani, J ama-ul-Haikayet, Tabqat-i-
Nasiri and Tarikh-i-Guzida. This daftar throws light on the history
of the Punjab.

Daftar III : As the author states its contents are drawn from the
books already within on the subject. It comprises short life sketches of
the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, and a brief account of their descendants—
Bedis and Sodhis. For writing this daftar he has made use of the
works of Sohan Lai Suri, Khair-ud-Din Mufti, Ahmad Shah Batalia
and verified many things from the granthis and aged Sikhs . 4

Daftar IV : It describes the rise and growth of the Sikh confed-
eracies in the Punjab. Bute Shah has not disclosed his sources of
information, but is a comprehensive survey of the rise of the Sikh
Misals and Chief’s houses after the dissolution of the Mughal empire,
the account though secondary, is very useful and obviously, very
reliable as most of it is corroborated by contemporary and semi-
contemporary sources.

Daftar V : This part of the book forms about one half of the
whole volume and contains a detailed history of the rise, growth
and consolidation of Ranjit Singh’s power in the Punjab and the
neighbouring territories. The author has not revealed his sources
of information, but it must be inferred that part of it, particularly
later one was contemporary. The author may have had access to the
British Political Agent at Ludhiana. Bute Shah’s account of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh was found to be fairly reliable by such authorities on the
period as Captains Murray and Wade, who had personal recollection
of the events. J.D. Cunningham, for example, states that “Captain
Murray, the Political Agent at Ambalaand Captain Wade, the Political
Agent at Ludhiana, each wrote a narrative of the life of Ranjit Singh... .
The two narratives in question were, indeed, mainly prepared from
accounts drawn up by intelligent Indians at the requistion of the
English functionaries, and of these the chronicles of Bute Shah,
a Muhammadan, and Sohan Lai, a Hindu, are the best known and
may be had for purchase.”®

We are exclusively interested in daftars III, IV and V that deal
with the Sikhs. As told earliest daftar III deals with the Sikh Gurus.
The author based his chronicle on the prevalent Sikh tradition. He
tries to be as true to the tradition as possible. He is not hostile to the

5. Cunningham, History of the Sikhs (1849), New Delhi, 1955, p. 96.

135

VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Sikhs but he does commit errors unintentionally.

According to Bute Shah Guru Nanak met Baba Farid Shakarganj 6
which is historically incorrect. Guru Nanak was born two hundred
and four years after Baba Farid’s death. According to the author
Guru Nanak used to wear Muslim dress and he visited holy places of
both the major communities of the country, the Hindus and Muslims,
and considered both the Hindus and Muslims equally worthy of respect.
This was exactly in conformity with his religious ideas and his faith
in the brotherhood of mankind. He gives an account of some of the
important place of pilgrimage connected with Guru Nanak. He also
gives the names of some of Guru Nanak’s close disciples and adds brief
notes on Baba Budha, Bhai Mardana and Bhai Lehna.

At places, Bute Shah tries to give a critical account of the lives of
the Gurus. He discusses different versions relating to the important
incidents of their lives. He mentions about the langar of Guru Angad
where meals for thousands of men were prepared every day , 7 and Guru
Amar Das’s baoli at Goindwal. He gives details about the baoli, as to
how it was dug, practices connected with it, its sanctity and its
importance as a place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs . 8 The author also
refers to the manji system, appointing twenty two leading Sikhs as
preachers . 9 Bute Shah gives the story of Bibi Bhani’s asking for
Gurugaddi to remain in the Sodhi family. The Guru accepted the
request of his daughter . 10 The fourth Guru, Ram Das excavated the
sarovar at Chak Guru and named it Amritsar (tank of the water of
immortality). The town grown around the tank also came to be known
as Amritsar.

According to Bute Shah during the period of Guru Arjan the
foundation of the Harmandir Sahib was laid by Mian Mir . 11 The
author narrates the maryada or practice followed at Harmandir Sahib,
including the regular kirtan and huge assemblage of the Sikhs there
during the Diwali and Baisakhi. The author also mentions the
compilation of the Adi Granth by Guru Arjan. He gives a detailed
account of Guru Arjan’s martyrdom. He fixes the responsibility of
this most tragic incident solely on Chandu Shah as the Guru had
refused the hand of the former’s daughter for the later’s son. Bute Shah

6. Bute Shah, op. cii„ p. 3.

7. Ibid., p. 9.

8. Ibid., pp. 11-12.

9. Ibid.,p. 12.

10. Ibid., pp. 14-15.

11. Ibid,, p. 20.

136

GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

says that Chandu Shah bore deep hostility against the Guru. It just
happened that Jahangir on his way to Kashmir stopped at Lahore for a
while. Chandu told the Emperor that the Guru was harbouring designs
of revolt against the government. The Emperor called Guru Arjan
and found him to be a very good-natured and a saintly person. But
Chandu Shah put the Guru In his own prison where he was tortured
and then put into the river where he died . 12 On the face, of it, this is
an incorrect story. Chandu was nobody to torture the Guru to death.
Either the author has not read Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri or he is intentionally
saving the Emperor from the charge of murdering the innocent
Guru.

He gives an account of Guru Hargobind’s birth, marriages and
the births of his children with dates. The whole account of the Gurus
is mostly based on prevalent tradition, but at places it is critical and he
gives his own views also. He has presented the government versions
based on the wrong or prejudiced reports of the imperial intelligencers.
For example, Guru Tegh Bahadur was said to have collected big force
in the Malwa and he gave asylum to the defectors from the Mughals.
The Guru was called to Delhi to present himself to the Emperor
A'urangzeb. But the Emperor was not in Delhi at that time. The
Guru was executed there.

The creation of the Khalsa under Guru Gob ind Singh and his
battles against the Mughals, his relations with Emperor Bahadur Shah
and finally his death by an assassin’s dagger at Nander have been
recorded in detail according to the current stories. Bute Shah is
particular about giving dates to all important events in the lives of
the Sikh Gurus. The dates may be wrong here and there but has
certainly taken pains of to collect information from the Sikh and non-
Sikh sources and recorded the same in his book.

Bute Shah informs his readers that his account of Banda Singh is
based on Tarikh-i-Hind of Ahmed Shah Batalia and Sohan Lai Suri’s
Umdat-ut-Tawarikh . 13 Arming himself adequately and collecting a
large number of armed followers Banda Singh issued an ultimatum
to the people of Sirhind to accept his overlordship otherwise they
would be militarily proceeded against. Consequent upon non-
compliance Sirhind was attacked and besides so many others Sher
Muhammad Khan and Khwaja Ali of Malerkotla died fighting against
Banda . 14 As corroborated by Bute Shah it was a practice with Banda

12. Ibid., pp. 22-25.

13. Ibid., ?. 62.

14. Ibid.,?. 63.

VOL. XXVI-I THE PAN J M3 PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

to ask the people of a town or ilaqa to surrender to his authority
before he launched a massive attack against them. The author has
given a detailed account of Banda Singh’s activities for seven long
years against the Mughal Government. The author has mentioned
Banda Singh establishing himself in the fort of Mukhlispur near
Sadhaura in the present Ambala district of Haryana state. Bahadur
Shah came to the Punjab to supervise operations against Banda
Singh. Before action could be taken against him he escaped from
Mukhlispur.

Bute Shah wrongly writes that Banda Singh’s men demolished
mosques and mausoleums . 15 The author gives a detailed account of the
strong action against Banda Singh by Emperors Bahadur Shah, Jahandar
Shah and Farrukh Siyar but he stoutly held out against them in the
face of his limitations in regard to his resources. Bute Shah informs
us that Banda Singh was duly baptised by Guru Gobind Singh . 16
Farrukh Siyar deputed Abdus Samad Khan to take necessary action
against Banda Singh. He was captured from Gurdas Nangal and taken
to Delhi where he was executed. The account of Banda Singh’s last
days is sketchy. Sometimes Bute Shah skips over important events
where he feels that the government had been oppressive and tyranical.
He tries to keep his account balanced and unprejudiced. But in the
remote recesses of his heart Bute Shah is a Muhammadan and where
possible he tries to exonerate a Muslim ruler of his oppressive policy.
He does save his coreligionists from the blame of their being, at times,
inhumanly cruel but at the same time he does not divert the charge
on the people wronged against. He gets silent over such incidents.

Daftar IV deals with the Sikh confedracies or the Sikh Misals.
This section of the book is very important but he does not reveal his
sources.

In the intoduction for this daftar the author has named the twelve
Misals. In the book he writes nothing about the Shahid or Nihang
Misal. The remaining eleven Misals have been covered. He writes
that some Misals are named after the ilaqas to which their jurisdiction
were extended, some were named after the villages or towns to which
the Sardars belonged and some to the habits of the Sardars . 17 The
Nakkais were named after the territory of Nakka. The Ahluwalias,
Faizullapurias, Sukarchakias, Dallewalias and Kanaihyas derived their

15. Ibid., p. 65.

16. Ibid., p. 82.

17. Ibid., pp. 96-97.

138

GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-D1N ALIAS BUTE SHAH

titles from the villages to which the Sardars of those Misals belonged.
The Bhangis took the name from its leader’s addiction to bhang —
an intoxicating preparation of hemp.

Bute Shah provides very useful information regarding the mutual
relations of the Sardars of the Misals and their treatment of the
peasants and the people at large. In the interest of the community
the Sardars forgot their differences and personal rivalries.. So it was
because of this that “when they planned to lead an incursion in some
direction they did it with concord, and because of the unison they
emerged victorious wherever they went.’’ 18 According to the author,
“when even a Sardar of ten troppers placed an area under bis rakhi
even of the biggest Sardars having five hundred or more troopers,
under him could not interfere in that area.” 19 Bute Shah’s above
observation has been corrobrated by an earlier and contemporary
writers. “Whenever a zamindar has agreed to pay this tribute (rakhij
to any Sikh chief, that chief not only himself refrains from plundering
him, but will protect him from all others! and this protection is by
general consent held so far sacred, that even if the grand army passes
through a zamindari where the safeguards of the lowest Sikh chief are
stationed, it will not violate them.” 20

Bute Shah says that the general rate, on the whole, at which a
Sikh chief received his share of the produce was one third or one
fourth. This was just a rule but in actual practice it was one eighth
or one tenth. In their days the subjects lived in prosperity and enjoyed
the magnanimity of the Sardars. They gave jagirs in dharamarth to
saintly persons without discrimination in grantee, whether he was a
Hindu or a Muslim. They never deprived a woman of her ornaments
or jewellery. 21 The treatment of the woman by the Sikhs has been
eulogized by a much earlier writer Qazi Nur Muhammaud in 1765.
He says ‘the Sikhs, would not plunder the wealth and ornaments of a
woman, be she a well-to-do lady or a maid-servant. 22

Bute Shah says that after the first leaders or Sardars died their
successors started fighting amongst themselves. As a result of their

18. Ibid., p. 97.

19. Ibid.

20. .Tames Browne, Introduction to the History of the Origin and Progress of Sikhs,
p. 16; reproduced in Early European Accounts of the Sikhs, ed. Ganda Singh
(Browne-Introduction, vii).

21. Bute Shah, op. cit., pp. 97-98.

22. Qazi Nur Muhammad, Jangnama (1765), edited by Ganda Singh, Amritsar, 1939,
pp. 5-6.

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VOL.XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

disputes and hostilities Ranjit Singh occupied their territories. 23 This
is just a simplification of the mutual relations of the Sardars of the
Misals.

The author writes that the Sikhs to start with indulged in robbery
and plunder and later they became the masters of the Punjab. The
author must know that the robbers cannot become the rulers unless
they deliver goods to the people. He writes only what the Sikhs are
capable of doing under very trying circumstances. He does not write
as to how they were treated by the government. This is generally
the weakness of the Muslim historiographers. When writing about
the Sikhs they generally align themselves with the ruling class to which
they belong in respect of their faith. There the estimate or evaluation
of the rival people by the Muslim writers is blurred, and their
impartiality of which they boast suffers a setback. The later writers
or historians make those books as their source of information and
blindly copy the same and place before the readers a wrong picture
of the Sikhs and their activities. The Sikhs were the sons of the soil.
They had to live in the Punjab- Emperor Bahadur Shah issued an
order on December 10, 1710, for the wholesale genocide of the Sikhs—
the worshippers of Nanak, wherever found. 24 Under such repressive
and tyrannical measures of the government the Sikhs were compelled
to leave their homes and hearths and find asylum in inhospitable forests
and hills. For their petty requirements they had come to their homes
occupied by the Muslims. When they took away things from their
own houses they were branded, most unjustifiably, the robbers and
plunderers. But actually the new . occupants of their houses were the
real robbers and plunderers. This is the real position which the
Muslim chroniclers refuse to understand and the unfortunate tragedy
is that even some of the present day scholars close their eyes to see the
actual situation prevailing in the land and only open their ears to listen
to what the prejudiced and fanatic writers have to tell them.

Most of the writers have not been able to distinguish between a
'Sardar’ and a ‘Misaldar.’ They use both these terms for the chief of
a Misal. Bute Shah makes the distinction between the two. He writes,
"When a person accompanied by some comrades takes possession of
a particular territory he gives >away some portions of that territory to
his companions for their support. He himself becomes the Sardar
(Chief) of the Misal and the others become his Misaldars. When the

23. Bute Shah, op. cit., p. 98.

24. Akh bar- i-Durbar- i-Mualla, MS., G.S. entry December 10, 1710.

140

GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

Sardar distributed some villages amongst his companions upto
individual horsemen these grantees were called pattidars and their
tenures as pattis.” ib

The Misaldars were without any condition of dependence except
military help against an enemy. If the Misaldar was dissatisfied with
the Sardar he could transfer himself along with his lands to some
other chief. The pattidars could not dispose of his tenure to a
stranger but in an emergency he was allowed to mortgage it. At the
time of his death he could give away his patti to any of his male
relations. Thus, the patti became hereditary. The only condition of
his tenure in relation to the Sardar of the Misal was the military aid
when required.

According to Bute Shah, Misal is a territory conquered by a brave
Sardar with the help of his comrades and placed under his protection
or charge . 26 This definition of the Misal is not correct. Misal is and
has been used to mean loose papers tagged or stitched together
forming a sort of a file. When the Sikh Sardars assembled at Akal
Takhat they made a detailed report of the territories occupied by
them to their chief leader — the president of the assembly who prepared
the separate Misals (files) of the individual Sardars. These records
of Misals helped resolve territorial disputes whenever they arose
between the two Sardars. In a general way this interpretation of the
term is borne out by Cunningham also. He writes that ‘Misal more-
over means in India, a file of papers or indeed anything carried or
placed in ranks . 27

In the beginning, the chiefship of a Misal was not considered as
the hereditary property of a particular Sardar. This belief led to
giving preference to suitability over hereditary claims and caste
distinctions. In the early stages, this practice was not resented by the
progeny of any Sardar. According to Bute Shah, the chiefship of
Bhangi Misal did not remain in the family of its founder Chajja Singh
but went over to his campanion Bhoma Singh and after Bhoma Singh
one of his brave and wise companions, Hari Singh, was appointed as
the chief. After the death of Gurbakhsh Singh — one of the Misaldars
of Bhoma Singh, the formers nephew Gujjar Singh was ignored in
favour of Lehna Singh Kahlon who was an officer in the contingent of
that Misaldar . 28 And also the succession to the leadership of the

25. Bute Shah, op. cit., pp. 95-96.

26. Ibid.

27. Cunningham, op. cit., p. 96 f.n. 1.

28. Bute Shah, op. cit., p. 100.

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the panjab past and present

APRIL 1992

Karorasinghia Misal was another instance of this pratice in the early
stage of the process of development of Misal system. The founder,
Sham Singh, was succeeded by his nephew, Karam Singh who left his
authority to Karora Singh, a petty personal follower who again
bequeathed the command to Baghel Singh, his own menial servant . 39

All the Sikhs in the Misal considered it their privilege to elect a
leader of the Misal. Thus, we find that in the panthic interest, the
Sikhs in the early stages did not attach any importance to the
principle of hereditary succession. Only the personal qualities were
the main criteria for the selection or election of a successor. That
these elections were not always nominal is shown by the fact that many
times the heir-apparent was set aside and some really very capable
person was elected from among the descendants or relations of the
deceased chief, and sometimes even from among the troops themselves.
With the passage of time, the chiefship became hereditary.

Bute Shah is always conscious of Sikh leaders taking pahul
(amrit) at the hands of prominent religious leaders of the community.
To take amrit (baptism of the double-edged sword) and become a
member of the Khalsa was required of every Sikh. He who was not
duly baptised could not be elected as their leader. They all had to
adopt the rahit (code of conduct) of the Khalsa and abide by it.
According to Bute Shah, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was bapitsed by
Nawab Kapur Singh . 30 Tara Singh Ghaiba took pahul from Gurdial
Singh, Khatri of Malanh Sub-caste, who lived at Dallewal . 31
Sham Singh, founder of the Karorasinghia Misal took pahul from
Nawab Kapur Singh . 32 According to Bute Shah, Chhajja Singh, the
founder of Bhangi Misal, was the first to take pahul from Banda Singh.
After the death of Banda Singh, Chhajja Singh administered pahul to
Bhima Singh, Nath Singh and Jagat Singh and made them his
companions . 33 Bute Shah understands that pahul was the precondition
for every Sikh to entry any jatha, or a derah. Charhat Singh’s
essential condition, for recruitment to his contingent was that the in-
cumbent must be a duly baptised ‘Singh.’ Those who were not
already initiated into Sikhism with the baptism of the double-
edged sword received the amrit from his hands before joining his
rank . 34

29. Ibid., pp. 216-18.

30. Ibid., p. 265.

31. Ibid., pp. 164-65.

32. Ibid., p. 216.

33. Ibid., p. 100.

34 Ibid., V, pp. 2-3.

GHULAM TvtUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

“Kapur Singh converted a large number of people jats, car-
penters, weavers, jhiwars, chhatris and others to the persuation of
Guru Gobind Singh and the religious respect in which he was held
was so great that initiation into pahul of the Guru with his hands was
considered a great distinction .” 85 Besides so many others mentioned
above Jai Singh Kanaihya also took pahul at the hands of Kapur
Singh. The Sikhs used to pride themselves on having been baptised
by such a revered and indisputed leader of the Sikh community as
Kapur Singh was. He gave pahul to thousands of people belonging to
different communities and high and low social groups . 36

Under the influence of the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, the Sikhs
had disregarded the caste distinctions, differences of high and low,
untouchability, etc. In the matter of origin growth and development
of the Misals the castes had no place. No Misal was named after
any caste or sub-caste of any chief or Misaldar. Whether the leaders
of the Misals originality belonged to the peasant, carpenter or any
other profession, it was immaterial with the Sikhs. The leader should
be a member of the Khalsa. The amrit or the Sikh baptism had
elevated them all to the same level and made them members of
the same casteless Khalsa fraternity.

The founders of most of the Misals came from the times of
Guru Gobind Singh and Banda Singh Bahadur. “Chajja Singh the
founder of the.Bhangi Misal was the companion of Banda Singh and
had fought in the latter’s army .” 87 Kapur Singh Faizullapuria was
the companion of Banda Singh in his early days. Tiloka and Rama
of the Phulkian house, were the followers of Guru Gobind Singh and
Banda Singh. Khushal Singh, founder of Ramgarhia Misal, was the
companion of Banda Singh, Hardas Singh, the grandfather of Jassa
Singh Ramgarhia took pahul from the hands of Guru Gobind Singh.
Thus, we can trace the ancestors of most of the Misals having intimate
relations with Guru Gobind Singh and Banda Singh Bahadur.

Generally the chiefs leaders of the Misals occupied territories
independent of one another. For example, of the Bhangis, Hari Singh
was the first to start mulk-giri 38 or occupation of territories. According
to Bute Shah, by the time of Hari Singh’s succession to chiefship of
the Misal Natha Singh and Jagat Singh, the close associates of his
predecessors had died. He appointed Jhanda Singh in place of Natha

35. Muhammad Latif, History of the Punjab, Calcutta, 1891, pp. 322-23.

36. Bute Shah, op. cit., IV.

37. Ibid., p. 6.

38. Ibid., p. 100.

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Singh and Ganda Singh in place of Jagat Singh who made great con-
tributions to his achievements. Hari Singh fought a number of times
against Ahmad Shah Durrani. 39

According to Bute Shah, Nawab Kapur Singh’s successor Khushal
Singh started mulk-giri immediately after his succession to the Sardari
of the Misal. First, he occupied the territories adjoining Faizullapur.
Later he conquered the city of Jalandhar in the Doab and exacted
tribute from the zamindars like Rai Ibrahim. He occupied some terri-
tories in the cis-Satluj areas also. He confronted Ahmad Shah Abdali
in collaboration with Hari Singh Bhangi. He constructed a Faizulla-
purian’s Katra at Amritsar. 40

Thus, it is legitimate to infer that the territories were occupied
largely on the Misal basis. We can cite many more axamples to this
eflect. But let us take one more example to this effect. Cbarhat
Singh Sukarchakia to start with, was in the Bhangi dal but soon
thereafter he began to nurse in his heart political ambition
(bu-i-riyast) and came out of the Bhangi contingent and declared
himself as holding an independent status. 41 In a short time he
collected about ICO followers and the number of his men began to
grow rapidly and soon he had at his command 400 horse and foot. 42
He placed the tracts of Rohtas, Dhani and salt mines under his rakhi
(protection) and received the due revenue of protection money from
them. 43

This is not to suggest that there was no cooperation between the
leaders of one Misal and another during the phase of territorial
occupation. Tn fact, Bute Shah clearly states that sometimes terri-
tories were occupied jointly by members of two or more Misals. The
Bhangi chiefs Lehna Singh and Gujjar Singh and Kanaihya Sardar
Sobha Singh, nephew (brother’s son) of Jai Singh Kanaihya took
charge of Lahore in April 1765. The three chiefs divided Lahore
amongst them. 44 The Kanaihyas and the Ramgarhias who occupied
Batala, divided its revenue equally amongst themselves. They had
also jointly attacked Kasur. During their joint attack of Kasur they
got huge amount of booty. Mali Singh, brother of Jassa Singh, was

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid., p. 90.

41. Ganesh Das Badehra, Char Bagh-i-Punjab (1855), Amritsar, 1965, p. 135.
42- Bute Shah, op. cit., V, pp. 2-3.

43. ibid., p. 3.

44. Ibid., p. 18.

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GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

alleged to have concealed a valuable part of the booty against Jassa
Singh’s wishes. When this fact was discovered later the friendship
between the Ramgarhia and Kanaihya chiefs came to end.

In the second quarter of the eighteenth century aim of the Singhs
had been to paralyse the government administration and in the third
quarter it was to establish their own government. And to this end
the whole Sikh struggle in the second quarter was directed. The
Sikhs emerged victorious and they established their own sovereign
principalities. In the Sikh war for their liberation and ultimarely
their successes, the qualities of leadership came to be prized more
than ever before. By their joint actions their striking power increased
considerably. From the overall study of Bute Shah’s work we find
him giving due place and regards to the Sikh leadership that emerged
in the second and third quarters of the eighteenth century. The Sikh
movement produced a galaxy of valiant and competent Sikh leaders.
Nawab Kapur Singh led the community through very difficult times.
He was, undoubtedly, the most distinguished of the Sikh leaders
before to days of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Ala Singh of Patiala.
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, who was a man of great ability, was much
respected by the Sikhs. He was a great warrior, a brave general and
a splendid organiser. Jassa Singh remained the indisputed leader of
the Sikh community till his death in 1783. Then, there was Ala
Singh, who was, in diplomacy, par excellence. He plundered Ahmad
Shah Durrani’s foraging parties in 1748, robbed his son Timur Shah in
1757, and annoyed the Durrani in 1760, by supplying grains to the
Marathas. In 1764, he joined the Dal Khalsa in attacking Sirhind
and killing its governor Zain Khan. Despite all this he obtained the
title of ‘Raja’ and governorship of Sirhind from the Durrani. Ala
Singh had pleased the Mughal Emperor, the Durrani invader, and
the Dal Khalsa. He may rightly be called the Bismarck of the Sikhs.
He had three balls in his hands and by throwing them simultaneously
into the air, he always caught them, never allowing any one to fall.

We have a big list of equally eminent leaders who included Jassa
Singh Ramgarhia, Charhat Singh Sukarchakia, Lehna Singh and
Gujjar Singh Bhangis, Jai Singh Kanaihya, Tara Singh Ghaiba and
Baghel Singh. These leaders made a notable contribution to wresting
power from the hands of the Mughals and foiling all attempts of
Ahmad Shah Durrani to make Punjab a province of his kingdom.

The above Sardars were very powerful leaders of their respective
Misals. They would naturally expect their Misaldars to continue
acknowledging their superior status. Thus defection of a Misald'ar

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from one Misal to another against the wishes of the chiefs was not
liked or encouraged by him. Sometimes, this sort of defection led
to hostilities between two Misals. For example, Jhanda Singh Bhangi
had bestowed Pathankot on one of his Misaldars, Nand Singh, also
called Mansa Singh whose widow gave her daughter and jagir of
Pathankot to Tara Singh, a near relation of Haqiqat Singh Kanaihya.
Ganda Singh was inimical to the Kanaihyas for their nefarious act of
arranging the murder of his brother Jhanda Singh. He was severely
gnnoyed over both the acts of Nand Singh’s widow. Ganda Singh
Bhangi insisted that Tara Singh should give up the jagir but he
refused. There was a fight between the Bhangis and Kanaihyas and
during the armed operation Ganda Singh fell ill and died . 46 The
Bhangis withdrew and it further strengthened the position of the
Kanaihyas. It cannot be definitely said whether the rights claimed
by the chief over his Misaldars were justified by the original terms
of the association.

It cannot be suggested that the Sardar of the Misal exercised any
strict control over his Misaldars. Their obligation seems to have
been limited to cooperation with the Sardars of the Misal only in
those situations which called for armed offence or defence. For the
rest they were virtually independent of the Sardar. They exercised
full authority in the territory under their control of their own behalf.
In the very real sense the Misaldar was as autonomous as the chief.
The principle of hereditary succession which came to be established
in all the Misals was adopted as much by the Misaldars as by the
chiefs of the Misals themselves. Bute Shah has written accounts of
a large number of Misaldars or associate chiefs or some others
of influence. We can include in this category minor chiefs as Tara
Singh Chaipuria, Bagh Singh Hallowalia, Sudh Singh Randhawa,
Deva Singh Lundawala, Zamindars of Phagwara, Kapurthala,
Nakodar, Kalerwala, Mehtapurias, Abdula Khan Hadiabadia,
Rajab Ali of Alwalpur, Isa Khan and many others whose accounts
have been given by Bute Shah in his Tawarikh. We find that for all
practical purposes the qualitative difference between the chief of
the Misal and the Misaldar was first minimized and other obliterated.
By the last quarter of the eighteenth century there were strictly speak-
ing no chiefs and Misaldars but only so many Sardars of major or
minor consequence. During this time we find that a Sardar of one
Misal fighting against the Sardar of another Misal and the Sardars of
some Misals fighting against the Sardars of some other Misals. We

45. Ibid., IV, p. 40.

146

GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

find may examples in Bute Shah’s work. For instance Sukarchakias
fighting against Kanaihyas, Kanaihyas fighting against Ramgarhias,
Sukarchakias fighting against Ramgarhias, Ahluwalias fighting against
Ramgarhias, Bhangis fighting against Kanaihyas, Sukarchakias
fighting against Bhangis, Sukarchakias fighting against Dallewalias,
Sukarchakias fighting against Nakkais, and so on. Sometimes the
opposing Sardars forming alliances with non-Sikh chiefs. All this
characterize the eighteenth century or early nineteenth Sikh polity.
Within their own territories the administration of the Sardars, as a
rule, far from being oppressive and as told by Bute Shah, was
magnanimous with perfect religious toleration and people living in
peace and plenty under their rule . 46 Bute Shah does not refer to any
Sardar being discriminatory or oppressive and prejudiced against
the non- Sikhs. The Sikh leaders fought against the oppressive
policies and religious discrimination of the Mughal Government so
long and when they emerged successful they would not do any thing
of that sort which they as victims of repressive government suffered for
decades after decades. What they had wanted of the Mughal Govern-
ment must be given when they are in the saddle of administration.

The most important part of Bute Shah’s works. I believe, is daftar
II which extensively deals with the Sikh Misals and their polity about
which not much had been said earlier. Daftar V is, no doubt, more
exhaustive and detailed but it has not to inform us much beyond what
Sohan Lai Suri had said in his Umdat-ut-Tawarikh.

The Misals passed through two distinct phases as we have been
above, the non-territorial and territorial phases. During the first or
non-territorial phase there were voluntary associations of the Singhs
irrespective of their local or family affiliations, with a leader chosen
for his recognised merit and willingly followed. In the second phase
we notice the growing political aims of the Sardars which led them to
the occupation of territories largely on the Misal basis which, in
due course, transformed the character of the Misal. The Misaldars
became autonomous Sardars and the relations earlier established
between the Sardar and the Misaldar vanished almost completely
towards the close of the eighteenth century. This change had been
clearly noticed by Bute Shah and writes about the Misaldars is
full consciousness of the situation.

Daftar V forms about one half of the whole book and contains a
detailed history of the rise, growth and consolidation of Ranjit
Singh’s power in the Punjab and the neighbouring territories. The

46. Ibid., IV, pp. 97-98.

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author has not revealed his sources of information but it may be
inferred that part of it, particularly later, was contemporary. The
author may have had access to the British records, especially as he
wrote the work at the instance of British Political Agent at Ludhiana.
Bute Shah’s account of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was found to be fairly
reliable by such authorities on the period as Captain Murray and
Wade, who had personal recollection of the events.

Bute Shah’s account of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Daftar V
corresponds so closely with that of Sohan Lai (Daftars II and III
of Umdat-ut-Tawarikh) critically. Both the narratives, after the
usual introduction begin with Budha Singh, the great grandfather
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The same narrative order is followed
by both, but the account given by Bute Shah is very brief. The
resemblance intext and substance between the two histories is so close
that one is led to believe that Bute Shah’s Tawarikh-i-Punjab is no
more than an intelligent and faithful summary of Sohan Lai’s Umdat-ut-
Tawarikh. At places even the text of the Tawarikhi-Punjab is substan-
tially the same as that of Umdat-ut-Tawarikh.

The two narratives vary in many respects. Sohan Lai, as a court
chronicler, has been very tactful in describing the early career of the
Maharaja, and his ancestors, but Bute Shah while narrating the same
facts has used less guarded language. For example, while speaking
of the activities of Charhat Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s grand-
father, Sohan Lai Suri records that :

“On the death of his father he (Charat Singh) assumed the
leadership of the clan and on account of his impetuous nature, often
stayed in inaccessible forests.” 47

But Bute Shah bluntly states that : “Charhat Singh, on assumption
of the leadership of the clan at the age of 20, resorted, like other Sikhs,
to the profession of free booking and plundering. He took his abode
in wilderness and jungle.” 48

Sohan Lai, being an eye witness, is lawish of detail. The cere-
monial exchange of presents, etc., narrated in details have unnecess-
arily swelled his accounts. His narrative obviously bears the stamp
of a diary. In contrast with the official account. Bute Shah has
only recorded the salient events, omits details of secondary importance
or of little historical value and relates the events in a connected
historical manner. With regard to the visit of Captain Wade to

47. Sohan Lai, »p. cit., II, pp. 4-5.

48. Bute Shah, op. cit., V, p. 2.

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GHULAM MUHAYY-UD-DIN ALIAS BUTE SHAH

Lahore in 1828 Bute Shah described the meeting between the Maharaja
and the Captain in one passage. On the other hand Sohan Lai has
mentioned the meeting in details. Bute Shah, probably because of
his closer contact with the British functionaries at Ludhiana, also
uses English names more frequently and more correctly and has
invariably given the Christian years, and sometimes month and dates
corresponding to those of the current Vikrama era.

Thus, the Tawarikh-i- Punjab adds little to the voluminous account
given in the Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, yet as a continuous review of the
reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh by a writer who was partially contem-
porary, it may not only serve as a check on the official Sikh record,
but also help from British sources to corroborate many an important
point.

149

Problem of Sikh Separate Identity ; A Study
of Hindu Reaction of the Early Twentieth
Century in Hindi Writings*

Dr Himadri Banerjee**

A persistent quest for a separate religious identity perhaps
represents one of the major trends of the history of the Sikhs of the
early decades of the present century. The Singh Sabha tradition of
the late nineteenth century highlighting the Khalsa Panth continued
to be focussed during these days. Similarly, Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha’s
much publicised monograph Ham Hindu Nahin (1897), which offered
the Sikhs a distinctiveness of their own, was then more effectively
utilised by the Chief Khalsa Diwan not only as a battle cry, but a
powerful device in consolidating their grip over the community. In
their various pamphlet duels with the Arya Samajists, Punjab Hindu
Sabha and other similar organisations, the Sikh case was powerfully
advocated by a band of devoted scholars, theologians and journalists
like Bhai Ditt Singh, Bhai Takht Singh, Babu Teja Singh and others
who elaborated the Khalsa tradition on a broader ideological perspec-
tive. Generally speaking, the Panthic ideological duel also carried
with it the spirit of contemporary politics of Punjab. Consequently,
the enactment of the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, introduction of
a sparate franchise under the Montagu-Chelmsford constitutional
framework and above all, the Government of India’s persistent bid for
the definition of a Sikh made the political scenario and ‘disquieting’
in the first quarter of the present century.

Hindus of Punjab and even beyond also did not fail to react
sharply to the Sikh bid for a separate identity. They had perhaps very
little support and sympathy for the Sikh demand because it was
likely to affect them directly in their day to day life. The reaction
of the Hindus, who demographically constituted the most dominant

*It goes without saying that the author is himself responsible for the views expressed
in the paper.

**Reader in History, Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta.

150

PROBLEM OF SIKH SEPARATE IDENTITY

religious community on the Indo-Gangetic plains, was generally of a
varied and complex pattern. Here an attempt has been made to point
out how a section of Hindu intellectuals beyond Punjab had been trying
to negotiate this Sikh claim during these days. For the convenience
of our discussion, we have confined ourselves to a few publications
of the Nagri Pracharini Sabha, Benaras, which would provide an index
of Hindu articulation in Hindi heart-land of these days.

Since its inception in 1893, the Nagri Pracharini Sabha has been
playing a pioneering role for the development of Hindi language and
literature. Its early success and failure was intimately associated with
Babu Shyam Sundar Das (1875- 1937), 1 the first professor of Hindi at
the Banaras Hindu University. Under his general editorship, Das
initiated the publication of the Manoranjan Pustakmala series highlight-
ing primarily the history and religion of India in a popular style
written by different well-known personalities of the contemporary
Hindi world. Das had to initiate the project under an extremely bleak
financial condition. Later on, the series, however, gradully brought
some material benefit and literary prestige to the Sabha. Nearly fifty
titles were brought out in the series, 2 out of which at least three were
wholly devoted to the history of the Sikhs, while in the fourth one, a
brief section had dealt with it. All these studies were more or less
published within a span of five or six years, and written by three
different persons of different regions of modern Uttar Pradesh and
they also represent a few common but distinct trends of opinion about
the Panth.

It goes to the credit of Beni Prasad 3 of bringing out the first
monograph on Sikh studies in the Manorajan Pustakmala series. It
was a biography of Guru Gobind Singh published in 1914. 4 Drafted
in a popular and emotional style, the author is completely silent
about his source materials. Beni Prasad belonged to a Kyastha family

1. Shyam Sunder Das, Meri Atamkahani, Prayag, 1941. See also Peter Galffee,
A History of Indian Literature, Volume VIII, Wiesbaden, 1978, p. 19.

2. Ramnath Pandey, Babu Shyamsundar Das : Vyakti Aur Krititva, Varanashi,
1961, pp. 8 and 73.

3. For Beni Prasad’s brief life-sketch, see Shushila Tyagi’s unpublished contribution
to be published in the DNB by the Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta.
I am indebted to Professor N.R. Ray for allowing me to consult the article.
But the Library Congress Catalogue differs greatly from Tyagi’s observations
regarding Beni Prasad’s writings.

4 . Beni Prasad, Guru Gobind Singh, Kashi, 1914. For its brief review, see Masik
Manoranjan, Baisakh 1978 Samvat, p. 25.

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of Agra and had already made his mark as a biographer of the Sikh
gurus, serialised nearly a decade ago in the Saraswati of Allahabad. 5 6 7
The author also wrote a biographly of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the
same series in 1919.®

These two studies of Beni Prasad had some common distinctive
features of their own. Apparently, they do not carry any impression
of the biographer’s awareness of the contemporary Sikh reform
movement as well as its fight for a separate identity from that
of the Hindus. It seems likely that the author’s silence about the
contemporary developments in Punjab was deliberate, because some
of issues of the Saraswati had already drawn our attention to the
situation prevailing across the Jamuna. Beni Prasad’s long-standing
association with the Saraswati’’ adds strength to this hypothesis.
Without directly opposing the contemporary Sikh sentiment, he
tried to put up a thesis by portraying the Panth as an integral
part of the vast Hindu society. He often becomes extremely enthusi-
astic and grows lyrical in depicting the Tenth Guru and the Sikh
monarch as the two great representatives of martial tradition of the
pre-modern times, fighting for the defence of Hinduism in different
theatres of war. They were admired for restoring the lost Hindu
political glory. Prasad praised them for providing the Hindus once
again a respectable place in Indian national life.

Prasad, a scion of the Kyastha family, particularly hailed the
Guru’s bold decision of bringing an end to caste system at the time
of the creation of the Khalsa. He was of the opinion that the institu-
tion of the Khalsa represented the organisational genius of the Tenth
Guru. He argues that Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s monarchy was basically
a state, governed in accordance with laws of administration and the
Sikh ruler was never forgetful of his duties as a head of the state.
In contrast to the contemporary Tat Khalsa asertion that there had
long been in existence a separate code of Sikh rituals, the biographer
writes that the Panth was universally guided by certain well-known
code of ethics and social relationship. He also gives us the impression
that Ranjit Singh had always been guided by some distinct rituals
for auspicious occasions like coronation and marriage. He (Ranjit
Singh) often used to take holy dips at places like Hardwar and

5. The biographies of the different Sikh gurus were
during the period October 1902 to December 1907.

6. Beni Prasad, Ranjit Singh, Kashi, 1919.

7. See Foot note 5.

published in the Saraswati

152

PROBLEM OF SIKH SEPARATE IDENTITY

Thaneswar, considered to be sacred by the Hindus, j In spite of his
occasional visits to the Golden Temple, or reciting the ardas or distri-
buting karahparsad,, these did not suggests any significant deviation from
any beliefs or tenets. 8 9 On the other hand, the Sikh crownhead always
regarded himself a faithful sovereign till the end of his life.

In other words, the biographer’s deliberate silence about the
contemporary Sikh feelings in Punjab as well as his bold defence of
the Sikhs as one of the integral part of society pleased the Hindus of
Hindi heartland for whose consumption the Manoranjan Pushtakmala
were brought out during the period under review. It provided them
the message they were looking forward for resisting the Sikh claim for
a separate communal identity. It perhaps offered an interesting key to
the understanding of the contemporary Hindu mind, which tried to
resist some of the fundamental aspirations of the minority communi-
ties of the sub-continent.

II I

Another significant study on the history of the Sikhs in this
series was the Sikhon Ka Utthan Aur PatarP authored by Nandkumardev
Sharma of Mathura. 10 It is a general account of the Panth from
its birth under Guru Nanak till the collapse of the Khalsa Raj at the
end of the Second Sikh War in 1849. Unlike Prasad, Sharma provided
a list of works in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and even Bengali
utilised in reconstructing nearly 400 years long history of the Sikhs.
Besides, he sought to avoid Prasad’s popular emotional literary style
as far as practicable and extensively used footnotes citing his sources
either elaborating or defending his line of argument which one would
not come across in the former’s volume. Further, Sharma was
fortunate in having some direct association with the contemporary
Punjab politics; he made no secret of his anxiety about the Sikh
identity movement and he directly referred to it at the very outset of
his study which was conspicuous by its absence in the pages of
Prasad’s works.

Actually, the early twentieth century developments in the Panthic
politics, left behind a deep impact on the mind of the author. He was
of the opinion that this was likely to have many repercussions on the

8. Beni Prasad, op. cit., pp 18, 19, 51, 63, 67, 69, 70, 163, 177, 179 and 217.

9. Nandkumardev Sharma, Shikhon ka Utthan Aur Patan, Kashi, 1915.

10. For a detailed analysis on Nandkumardev Sharma’s writings, see the author’s
unpublished paper ‘Regional History in Hindi Writing : Nandkumardev Sharma’s
Writings on the Sikhs’ presented in a seminar organised by the Kurukshetra
University, February 1991.

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national life cf the Indian sub-continent, especially when the Indians
were fighting against the British Raj. While praising the Sikhs in
general for their bravery and heroic tradition, he cautioned their
leaders of the implications of their demands.

While elaborating these findings in his general framework of
history, the historian makes no pretension that Sikhism was ever a
separate religion from that of Hinduism and therefore Guru Nanak
was born to reform the Hindus from within. Like Beni Prasad,
Sharma cone luded that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a Indian hero who
gave a distinct shape to Sikh political destiny. But as soon as the strong
hands of the Maharaja were removed, there began a period of disastrous
civil war and anarchy among the leading members of the royal house-
hold. But the Khalsa remained united and loyal till the end of the Sikh
Kingdom (1849). In spite of their heroic defence under their ‘true’ lead-
ers like Sham Singh Attariwala, they proved themselves to be no match
for their 'greedy, selfish and treacherous’ generals, namely, Lai Singh
and Tej Singh who surrendered Sikh sovereignty to the British. Hence,
he cautioned the Sikhs of the evil designs of their contemporary
leadership. Such ‘unfortunate’ development had always been present
in the fabric of Hindu society. They had often brought disasters
whenever the Hindus had tried to be united in resisting the foreigners.
Consequently, he warned his readers of its manifold consequences in
the national movement against the Britishers carried in the early
decades of the present century. It is needless to say that Sharma’s
anxiety was widely shared by many Hindus of northern India and,
therefore, his volume was reprinted on more than three occasions
within thirty years of its first publication. 11

Ill

Unlike three earlier worksj the fourth one, entitled the Manohar
Iiihasik Kahaniya 12 ( Popular Historical Tales) was a collection of
sixteen heroic tales from Indian history, three of which dealt with
that of the Sikhs. The first one primarily dwells on Guru Gobind
Singh’s life-long struggle against the Mughals leading to the birth of
the Khalsa. According to its author, the Khalsa provided a spirit of
unity and sacrifice among the Sikhs that had been enshrined in the
Sikh resistance movement after the demise of the Guru. The author
had no doubt that heroes like Banda Bahadur, Bhai Mani Singh and

11 . Incidentally, Sharma’s Shikhon ka Utthan Aur Pattan was reprinted for at least
three times and I have consulted the first and fourth reprints of it.

12. Dwarkaprasad Sharma Chaturvedi, Manohar Aitihasik Kahaniya, Kashi 1922.

154

PROBLEM OF SIKH SEPARATE IDENTITY

Hakikat Rai inherited this tradition and their martyrdom for the
defence of the Panth kept the Sikh flag flying against the relentless
oppression of the Mughal power. Incidentally, these developments of
the post-guru decades constituted the central theme of the other two
stories dealing with the history of the Sikhs included in the volume.

Chaturvedi Dwarkaprasad Sharma, its author, was not, however,
a professional historian. A Prayag (Allahabad) based prolific
writer of biographies, Chaturvedi was widely known for his commit-
ment to the cause of Hindi literature. A deep fascination and love
about Rajput chivalry and heroism brought him to the arena of
history. Perhaps, he discovered the Sikhs while documenting
Rajput military tradition of the medieval days. In his scheme
of history, therefore, the fighting role of Guru Gobind Singh as
well as the sacrifice and martyrdom of his associates and disciples
were represented as a connected story of native resistance against
the Mughals in the eighteenth century. Dwarkaprasad also gave us
a glimpse of the sources utilised by him in reconstructing the history
of the Panth. He had, for example, been associated with the works of
Cunningham, G.C. Narang and Elphinstone, though he had mainly
referred to Elphinstone in the footnotes.

A brief reference to Chaturvedi’s attitude towards the contempo-
rary" Sikh movement for a separate identity may be quite relevant here.
Like Beni Prasad and Nandkumardev Sharma, he was generally
of the opinion that the Sikhs did not constitute a separate community
which evidently is an ambigous statement. Perhaps the contemporary
G urdwara gave a new dimension to Hindu-Sikh relationship in the
late 1920s.

155

Legacy of Dyal Singh Majithia

Madan Gopal*

While the scions of other families of the Sikh chiefs at Maharaja
Ranjit Singh’s court accepted, after the annexation of the Punjab in
1849, such jobs as E.A.C., or tehsildars, and, with the income from
jagirs, lived a life of luxury and indulgence, Lehna Singh Majithia’s
only son Dyal Singh grew into a shrewd businessman dealing in real
estate and precious stone and jewellery. He made lots of money.
The prestigious Dyal Singh Mansion on Mall Road of Lahore, with
154 residential units, the ‘Exchange’ building later bought overby
the Ganga Ram Trust, the 50 odd lawyers chambers on Fane Road in
Lahore are only three of the 25 properties left behind by him there
in addition to one in Karachi, besides lands, gardens, houses and
villages in Amritsar, Lahore and Gurdaspur districts, shares in joint
stock companies and in the Punjab National Bank. According to one
estimate his assets at the time of his death in 1898 were worth
Rs. 30 lakhs.

Dyal Singh had been keeping indifferent health. Elected Chair-
man of the Reception Committee of the Lahore session of the Indian
National Congress in 1893, he was ill and, although he insisted on
receiving the delegates, he could not read his address and asked
Harkishen Lai to read it on his behalf. Two years later in 1895, he
drew up a Will, reportedly with the assistance of the great Brahmo
Samaj leader. Rev- Brother Pratap Chunder Mazumdar, who had come
to Lahore and stayed as the Sirdar’s guest in the '‘barracks” on Nisbet
Road. It was a meticulously drawn up Will. After getting two
European officials to witness his signature on the Will, he got it
registered with the Registrar at Lahore. The existence of the Will
was kept a secret. Only his friend Ruchi Ram Sahni and his lawyer
Sangam Lai were informed about it. It is a remarkable document, 1
worth reproduction :

2/17, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi.

1. The Will of Dyal Singh Majithia has been printed by the Tribune press. The
copy reproduced here was supplied by the Brahmo Samaj, Calcutta. The
Government Dyal Singh College, Lahore, and the Dyal Singh Trust Library did
not till recently have the will’s copy.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

Will of the Late Sirdar Dyal Singh Majeethia

The last will and testament of me, Sirdar Dyal Singh Majeethia,
son of late Sirdar Lehna Singh Majeethia, rais, jagirdar and land and
house proprietor of Lahore, provides as follows :

I. That all my just debts and liabilities, if any, including pay of
establishment, servants, wages and other similar charges due at the
time of my death, shall be paid out of funds with my cashier at
Amritsar, named Bhanga Singh, and, in the event of those funds not
sufficing, out of the current deposits held in my account in the Bank
of Bengal, Lahore.

II. That as I have no issue of my body and have not adopted
any son and as Sirdar Gajindar Singh, son of the late Sirdar Ranjodh
Singh of Majeetha, is my nearest male agnatic relation, I bequeath to
the said Sirdar Gajinder Singh, all my immovable and movable
property mentioned here in below, that is to say :

(a) All my lands, houses and gardens in Majeetha, in the
Amritsar District.

(b) The whole villages of Gallowali in the District to Amritsar.

(d) All my jewellery at Amritsar kept in a sealed box in the
custody of my cashier Bhanga Singh.

(e) All plates and other articles of silver locked in an iron safe

in the zenana house at Amritsar. ■

(f) All my houses, carriages and other conveyances and cattle
and all other articles of domestic use save such as may be in
my wife’s possession for her personal use.

(g) Any cash balance that may be left with my above named
cashier at Amritsar after paying my just debts and liabilities,
if any as provided in paragraph I, hereof.

III. That the said Sirdar Gajindar Singh shall be entitled to the
immediate possession of the property mentioned above on my death
and shall take in it a permanent heritable interest but neither he nor
his heirs and representatives shall have any claim or right to or interest
in any other of my property not hereby expressly bequeathed to him.

IV. That the said Sirdar Gajindar Singh, his heirs and represen-
tatives shall, in lien of the above be quest to him, be bound to maintain
my wife Bhagwan Kaur for her lifetime in a manner suitable to her
rank and condition in life, showing her every respect, attending to all
her comforts, supplying her with cattle for milk and such conveyances
as he may be in possession of for customary visits to relations and

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

other occasions of festivities and sorrow, allowing her a suitable
residence at Amritsar or Majeetha as she may desire and paying her
for her personal expenses a monthly allowances at commencement of
each month at the rate of Rs. 10 0/- per month. The said Sirdar
Gajindar Singh, his heirs and representatives shall, moreover, be
bound to provide fodder for the cattle supplied for the use of my said
wife, and to pay wages to two female and two male servants who may
attend upon and serve my said wife.

V. That, save as provided in paragraph IV h ere in above my
said wife shall have no other right or claim to or interest in my estate,
but she shall be entitled to all her property in her possession.

VI. That the said Sirdar Gajindar Singh, his heirs and represent-
atives shall continue Nur Muhammad in the management of the landed
property bequeathed to the said Sirdar Gajindar Singh in paragraph II,
hereof which property the said Nur Muhammad has been managing
efficiently for the last twelve years save in the case of proved dishonesty
or gross neglect of duty on the part of the said Nur Muhammad.

VII. That as lam childless and have not made any adoption,
it is my desire that my jagirs in perpetuality situate in the Districts of
Amritsar and Gurdaspur should be continued to the aforesaid Sirdar
Gajindar Singh who, being my first cousin on the paternal side, may
be considered rightfully entitled to the said jagirs, but whether the
said jagirs be continued to the said Sirdar Gajindar Singh or not, the
said Sirdar Gajindar Singh, his heirs and representatives shall be bound
to comply with all the provisions of paragraph IV. here in before
regarding the treatment and maintenance, so, of my said wife as
therein laid down with the exception that if the jagirs be not continued
to rhe said Sirdar Gajinder Singh and any pension by reason thereof
be granted by the Government to my said wife the said Sirdar Gajinder
Singh may take the pension that may be granted to her into account in
respect of making her for her personal expenses the monthly allowance
of Rs. 100/- provided in the said paragraph.

VIII. That all the property immovable and movable mentioned
here in below shall vest permanently in a Committee of Trustees for
the purpose of establishing and maintaining a first class Arts College at
Lahore, that is to say,

(a) All my proprietory rights including accessory and other rights
and lands, gardens and houses in the following villages in the
District of Amritsar, viz.

1. Dayalpore

2. Burj (Nawabad)

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

3. Ruk Bhagwan

4. Putti

5. BhalaPind

(b) All my proprietory rights including accessory and other rights
and lands, houses and gardens in the village of Mirza Jan in
the District of Gurdaspur.

(c) All my houses and lands in Lahore and its suburbs excepting
the house called the “Exchange” now occupied by Messrs.
E. Gilon & Co., limited.

(d) My house property in the city of Karachi, Sind.

(e) Any other land or house that may hereafter be acquired by
me in Lahore, Karachi or any other place.

(f) The eighty shares belonging to me and standing in my name
in the Delhi Cotton Mills Company, limited and the forty
shares belonging to me and standing in my name in the
Krishna Mills Company limited, Delhi.

(g) All my shares in the Punjab National Bank, Lahore.

(h) All current and fixed deposits to my credit in the Alliance
Bank of Simla, Lahore, in the Agra Bank, Lahore, in the
Bank of Bengal at Lahore and Calcutta and with Messrs.
Latham & Co. of Karachi save as provided in paragraphs I,
XVI, and XXV hereof.

(i) All sums of money due to me on Promissory Notes, Bonds,
Hundies and Cheques.

(j) Two gold necklaces set with pearls, rubies and diamonds,
now in the custody of my cashier, Bhanga Singh at Amritsar.

(k) Furnitures, books and bookshelves at my residential house
at Lahore and books and bookshelves at my residential house
at Amritsar.

IX. That the said Committee of Trustees shall consist of the
following members, viz.

1. Babu Jogendra Chandra Base, M.A., B.L., Pleader, Chief
Court, Lahore.

2. Babu Sasi Bhusan Mukherjee, M.A., B.L., Professor, Govern-
ment College, Lahore.

3. Dewan Narindra Nath, M.A., District Magistrate, Monto-
gomery.

4. Mr. Charles Golok Nath, B.A., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law, Lahore.

5. Mr. Harikishan Lai, B.A. Barrister-at-Law, Lahore.

6. Lala Ruchi Ram, M.A., Assistant Professor, Government
College, Lahore.

7. Mr. Golok Nath Chatterjee, B.A., Assistant Professor,

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Government College, Lahore.

8. Lala Sundar Das Suri, M.A., Assistant Superintendent, Train-
ing College, Lahore.

9. Babu Adinash Chandra Majumdar of the North Western
Railway office, Lahore.

X. That it shall be the duty of the said committee of Trustees to
establish and maintain out of the funds and income of the property
mentioned in paragraph VIII, hereof a first class Arts College with or
without any school classes as to the said Comittee may decide for the
speed and dissemination of a sound liberal education in this province
in which College every attempt shall be made to inculcate pure
morality and the principle of Theism consistent with the tenets of the
Brahmo religion by the personal example of the teaching staff as far as
possible and by instituting a course of lectures and by such other
similar means as may to the said committee appear proper and
feasible.

XI. That, save as above provided, the said college shall in all
other respect be a thoroughly efficient non-denominational college
affiliated to the Universities of Calcutta and the Punj'ab teaching up to
the highest standards and imparting instruction on the same lines
generally as in the Government college in this country and looking
after and promoting the physical, mental and moral well-being of the
pupils on its rolls.

XII. That the control and management of the said college
shall vest entirely with the said Committee of Trustees who shall
be competent to frame all rules and regulations and do all other things
necessary to ensure the sound working and the permanency of the
said college.

XIII. That the said Committee of Trustees shall attach suitable
Boarding House to the said college, where students may board subject
to such rules and conditions as the said committee may frame and
lay down.

XIV. That the said Committee of Trustees shall cause to be
erected out of the funds placed at their disposal in paragraph VIII
suitable buildings for the said College and Boarding House with a
Gymnasium and the requisite out-offices in some convenient locality
close to the city of lahore, and purchase such furniture, books,
apparatus and other appliances out of the said funds as may serve all
the purpose of the college and boarding house.

XV. That it shall be in the discretion of the said Committee of
Trustees to dispose of any of the properties mentioned in paragraph

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

VIII hereof and to invest the sale proceeds of the same and the funds
placed at their disposal in the said paragraph Vlll in such safe and
profitable investment as to the said committee may seem fit and
reasonable. It is my suggestion that the following houses which are
not sufficiently productive may be so disposed of at the earliest
convenient opportunity, viz. :

1. The house and premises No. 12, Victoria Street, Karachi,
Sindh.

2. The house on the Empress Road, Lahore, formerly occupied
by the Royal Victoria Hotel.

3. The house on the Nicholson Road, Lahore, purchased by me
at auction in February 1893.

4. The house named respectively the “Beehive” and the “Lily
Cottage” on the Empress Road, Lahore.

5. The house in Anarkali, Lahore, opposite to the Bible Society —
Book Depot — near the old Museum building.

XVI. That the property herein mentioned, that is to say, be
house in Lahore known as the “Exchange” now occupied by Messrs.
E. Gillon Company Limited and rupees sixty thousand out of the
deposits in the Banks mentioned in paragraph VIII. Class (b) herein-
before shall vest permanently in a committee of Trustees consisting of
the following members, viz. :

1. Babu Jogendra Chandra Bose, M.A., B.L. Pleader, Chief
Court, Lahore.

2. Mr. Charles Golok Nath, B.A., LL.B. Barrister at-law,
Lahore.

3. Mr. Harikishen Lai, B.A. Barrister-at-law, Lahore.

4. Lala Shib Dayal, M.A. of the Aitchison College, Lahore.

5. Lala Sunder Dass, M.A., Assistant Superintendent, Training
College, Lahore.

6. Lala Sardha Ram, Government Pensioner, Lahore.

7. Lala Kanshi Ram of the Punjab Brahmo Samaj.

XVII. That it shall be the duty of the said committee of
Trustees to cause to be erected out of the funds placed at their disposal
in paragraph XVI hereinabove a suitable building close to the city of
Lahore for a Pubic library to be called by such name as the said
committee may decide and to purchase out of the said funds books,
furniture, and other appliances for the said library.

XVIII. That it shall be the duty of the said committee of
Trustees to maintain the said library in the state of efficiency with the
income of the said house called the “Exchange” mentioned in para-

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APRIL 1992

graph XVII, hereinabove which house at present yields a rental of
rupees three hundred per month spending the income, after paying for
the repair of the said house and the cost of library establishment, in
the purchase of fresh books and newspapers and magazines and
informing such a reserve fund as to the said committee of Trustees
may appear desirable.

XIX. That the said library shall be under the control and
management of the said committee of Trustees and shall be open to the
use of the general public subject to such rules and regulations as the
said committee of Trustees may frame on that behalf; provided that
no change shall be levied for the perusal of the books and newspapers
and magazines in the said library during its hours of business.

XX. That my property in the stock and good will of the Tribune
Press and Newspaper in Anarkali, Lahore, shall vest permanently in a
committee of Trustees consisting of the following members, viz. :

1. Babu Jogendra Chandra Bose, M.A., B.L. Pleader, Chief
Court, Lahore.

2. Mr. Charles Golok Nath, B.A., LL.B. Barrister-at-law,
Lahore.

3. Mr. Harikishen Lai, B.A. Barrister-at-law, Lahore.

XXI. That it shall be the duty of the said committee of Trustees
to maintain the said Press and newspaper in an efficient condition,
keeping up the liberal policy of the said newspaper and devoting the
surplus income of the said Press and newspaper, after defraying all
current expenses, in improving the said newspaper and placing it on
a footing of permanency.

XXII. That in the event of any of the Trustee or Trustees of any
of the aforesaid committee of Trustees dying or resigning or declining
or becoming incapable to act in the. respective Trusts aforesaid, the
reamining Trustees shall forthwith appoint new Trustee or Trustees
to fill up the vacancy or vacancies so caused, bearing in mind, first,
that the appointment made may be fully conducive to the attainment
of the objects of the respective trusts and, secondly, that on the
College committee of Trustees none may be appointed who are
members of the “Arya Samaj” or persons interested in a rival institu-
tion or who hold views and opinions antagonistic to the Brahmo
faith.

XXIII. That the members of the aforesaid committee or
Trustees shall be answerable only for their own respective wilful
defaults and not for those of the other or others if of them and shall
be protected for everything done by them in furtherance of the objects

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

of the respective Trusts hereinbefore set forth and the aforesaid
committee of Trustees shall be competent all costs incurred in or
inrelation to their respective Trusts out of the estates respectively
vesting in them and to reimburse themselves for any loss they have
incurred in or in relation hereto out of the said estates.

XXIV. That all my proprietory rights including accessory and
other rights and houses, gardens and lands in the qasba of Dinanagar
in the Gurdaspur district shall vest in the committee of Trustees
appointed by paragraph IX herein above and be incorporated among
the properties mentioned in paragraph VIII herein above to be
appointed in the same manner and for the same purpose as the said
properties mentioned in paragraph VIII.

XXV. That I hereby bequeath lo Mrs. L. Catherine Gill at
present residing at Karachi the sum of Rs. 20,0C0/- to be paid as a
legacy out of the current deposits at my credit in the Banks mention-
ed in paragraph VIII, clause (b).

XXVI. That I appoint Babu Jogendra Chandra Bose, M.A.,B.L.,
pleader, Chief Court, Lahore, Mr. Charles Golok Nath, B.A.,LL.B.,
Barrister-at-law, Lahore and Mr. Harikishen Lai, B.A., Barrister-at-
law, Lahore executors of this my last will and testament.

The said executors shall pay all expenses connected with the
probate and the administration of my estate, and after distributing my
estate among the lagatees and committee of Trustees the executors
hereinbefore named and mentioned shall retire from office.

The said executors shall not be held responsible for any act or
acts done by them in the discharge of the duties hereby imposed upon
them.

XXVII. That all my estate save portions of the immovable
property mentioned in paragraph II hereinbefore bequeathed to
Sirdar Gajinder Singh consists of the self acquired property of my
father, the late Sirdar Lehna Singh Majeethia, and of myself, the
only son and heir of the said Sirdar Lehna Singh Majeethia, and
has all along been held in sole, absolute and exclusive proprietory
possession by me for upwards of the last 40 years. No one has or
shall have any portion thereof of any manner, kind or nature what-
ever save what has been conferred by this my last will and testament.

XXVIII. That I make this my last will and testament of my
own perfect free will and accord and in the full possession of my
senses and it is my earnest wish and desire that no attempts shall be
spared to fully carry out and give effect to the several objects herein-
above set forth and described in this my last will and testament.

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the panjab past and present

APRIL 1992

In witness whereof I have to this my
my hand thus 15th day of June, 1895.
Signed by the Testator and acknow-
ledged by him to be his last will
and testament in the presence of
us present at the same and subscribed
by us as witness in his presence and
at his request and in the presence
of each other.

last will and testament set

Sd/- Dyal Singh
William Ranaldson Clark,
Surgeon Captain, I.M.S.
Civil Surgeon, Lahore,
Charles Henry Tilson
Marshall, Colonel, I.S.C.
Divisional and Session

Judge, Lahore.

i True Copy

Sd./- C.J. Hollifax, Registrar.

Lahore, 27th September, 1898.

Three years after drawing up the will, Dyal Singh died on
September 9, 1898 of rheumatic fever. 2 Among those present by his
bedside were Ruchi Ram Sahni and other friends, and, of course,
the doctors, but not any relations ; for he had given instructions that
Rani Bhagwan Kaur should not be called to be by his bedside.
Catherine Gill, who had come to Lahore some time earlier had gone
back to Karachi. After the Sirdar passed away. Rani Bhagwan Kaur
was informed. She was present at the cremation of the Sirdar’s body in
the courtyard at the back of his havely. The last rites were performed
according to Hindu tradition. Except for a small portion of his ashes,
kept in the Samadhi to be shifted later to the proposed college, th? rest
were sent to Hardwar. Catherine Gill, who came to Lahore after
three days, left for Batala where, assuming the name of Rani Lachman
Kaur, she grabbed the ancestral haveli and village lands.

On September 18, 1898, on an application by Gajinder Singh,
the Acting Registrar opened the will in the presence of Harkishen
Lai and Jogendra Chandra Bose, pleader. On February 18, 1899,
Jogendra Chandra Bose and others filed an application for probate
ofthewiil. This was challenged by Gajinder Singh, other relations.
Rani Bhagwan Kaur and Catherine Gill. The last one claimed that
she was his junior widow married to him according to Sikh rites and

2. The time of Dyal Singh’s death has been given by Ruchi Ram Sahni who
says he was present by the Sirdar’s bedside, 0100 hrs. on September 9, 1898.
This is at variance with the time given by The Tribune. Although the file of
The Tribune for 1898 is missing, the report reproduced from the Tribune by
the Bengalee of Calcutta gives the time as 1330 hrs. on September 9, 1898.

The Indian Mirror of Calcutta, dated September 11, 1898, in its Lahore
correspondent’s report also gave the time as afternoon.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

also that it was not his last will. She later withdrew and left it to
Bhagwan Kaur, who challenged her contention to fight the case. So
did Gajinder Singh. Rani Bhagwan Kaur contended that Dyal Singh
was not a Hindu, because he ate meat, including beef, and ate with
Muslims, Christians, Parsis on the same table and had Muslim cooks.
As such the law under which probate was sought was not applicable
to the case; that he was a Sikh turned Brahmo; also that, because of
excessive drinking and dissipation, he had grown too weak, and was
surrounded and unduly influenced by Brahmo friends to deny the
rightful dues of Rani Bhagwan Kaur. The case was argued at length
before the Chief Court at Lahore. The Court considered the evidence
of Mrs. Catherine Gill unreliable, and that by the servants of Dyal
Singh, now in the pay of Rani Bhagwan Kaur, to be an attempt to
blacken the character of the Testator. On Aprill 3, 1900, the Chief
Court granted probate.

The Tribune

Of the three institutions to which Dyal Singh had bequeathed
his vast estate, there was only one that was in existence, namely The
Tribune. And this was one institution to which his bequest was the
minimum; it was the property in the shape of stocks in the press worth
about Rs. 12000, in addition to the goodwill of the paper which
could not be assessed in financial terms, but was certainly worth a lot.
It was this asset of the Sirdar that attracted immediate attention.

Rani Bhagwan Kaur had engaged one Sultan Bux, a clever man
well versed in the ways of the law courts, as her chief agent for
conducting her cases relating to the will. The Rani agreed to pay
him a hefty sum of Rs. 2 lakhs for successfuly conducting the cases.

Sultan Bux and Rani Bhagwan Kaur got in touch with the
editor Nagendranath Gupta and Manager of The Tribune Ram Chand.
Gupta agreed to consider Rani Bhagwan Kaur as the sole proprietress
of The Tribune (Dyal Singh was the sole proprietor of the newspaper)
provided the Rani agreed to sell the newspaper back to him for a
sum of Rs. 10,000 which was to be full and final payment for the
goodwill, machinery and types, etc. Gupta forgot that the actual
possession of the press and the newspaper premises was vested in
the manager.

Ram Chand had joined The Tribune as a clerk in 1883, and had
served the Sirdar well. He was loyal to the memory of the Sirdar
whose salt he had eaten. He, therefore, informed Harkishen Lai
that negotiations were afoot between Rani Bhagwan Kaur’s representa-
tives and Nagendranath Gupta for the take over by the Rani of The
Tribune and the printing press. Harkishen Lai took the other two

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Trustees, Ruchi Ram Sahni and Charles Golok Nath, into confidence.
A strategy was drawn up. As part of the plan, Ram Chand was
advised to give the impression to the Rani’s representatives that he,
too, was ready to handover the possession of the establishment for
a consideration.

Accordingly, a deal was quietly arranged between Ram Chand
and Sultan Bux. But Ram Chand kept Harkishen Lai posted with
the details of the negotiations. A time was fixed between Rani
Bhagwan Kaur’s representatives and Ra m Chand when possession of
the newspaper and the premises was to be taken over by Sultan Bux.
The three trustees, Harkishen Lai, Ruchi Ram Sahni and Charles
Golok Nath, gathered an hour before the scheduled time for the
take over bid by the Rani’s people, at a closely place.

Harkishen Lai, who was at that time also a Wazir of the Raja of
Sheikhupura, mobilised about twenty people from among the Raja’s
servants. Ruchi Ram Sahni also deputed four people from his own
“workshop.” All these twenty and odd men took up positions behind
the bushes in the Golbagh facing The Tribune office and premises.

As decided by the trio, Ruchi Ram Sahni went to editor
Nagendranath Gupta’s small room situated in the corner of the
building, and engaged him in conversation. By this time (on Saturday)
Gupta had nearly finished the day’s work and was awaiting to see
the paper’s issue of the day. In the midst of the conversation, Ruchi
Ram casually got up and suggested to Gupta to come out of his
small room “for fresh air,” into the compound outside, and the two
continued discussions underneath a tree, not very far from the
building.

While Sahni and Gupta continued their discussions, Harkishen
Lai and his men entered the press quietly from the backdoor. Ram
Chand asked the workers and compositors to stop work and go out of
the building.

While all this was taking place, Gupta was not aware of what
was happening inside the press, all with the cooperation of Ram
Chand. The premises were now bolted. All this done, Harkishen
Lai went to the north-eastern corner of the building and waved his
handkerchief to Ruchi Ram Sahni. This was the pre-arranged
signal to convey that the mission had been achieved.

At this stage Sahni informed Gupta that bis plan to hand over
the possession of the newspaper and the press to Rani Bhagwan Kaur’s
men had been frustrated, and that the press and premises were now
in the possession of the men posted by the three trustees. Gupta

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

fretted and fumed. Half an hour later appeared Sultan Bux with a
dozen stalwarts and three servants of the Rani. They were all
surprised to see Aarkishen Lai, Ruchi Ram Sahni and Charles
Golok Nath already in the premises ahead of them . Sultan Bux was
non-plussed and crestfallen. There was resentment and despair
written large on hi s face. His men retreated and Sultan Bux threat-
ened those present with dire consequences.

The three trustees now conferred amongst themselves and decided
that while they might move the court and police on Monday it was
necessary to keep vigil on the premises that night and the following
(Sunday) night. Ruchi Ram Sahni and another friend Dharam Das
were deputed to keep awake by turns and over half a dozen men
posted to ensure that the threatened attack by the Rani’s men to break
open the locks and to put their own to prove that they were in
possession of the premises did not succeed. In fact, nothing whatso-
ever happened.

From that day on The Tribune came into the possession of the
three Trustees mentioned in Dyal Singh’s Will. A s soon as the probate
was taken, the paper was handed over formally to the Trustees who
were also the executors of the Will.

“Thus The Tribune was saved,” says the official history of The
Tribune, “from a tricky ‘sale’ ard a conspiracy hatched by Gupta and
the Rani’s agents. But for the timely move made by Lala Harkishen
Lai, Mr. Charles Golok Nath and Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni tha history
of this newspaper might have been different.” 3

A triweekly in Dyal Singh’s lifetime, it became a daily newspaper
in 1906, and has been the most powerful vehicle of public opinion,
playing a very important role in shaping the destiny of areas that
constitute Pakistan and the present day Punjab, Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh, in fact the whole of Upper India in the days before
partition.

In 1947, it was toying with the idea of starting a sister publication
from Jalandhar. However, events took an ugly turn and the staff had
to leave Lahore. Thanks to the transfer of some of its assets to India,
and the orders for anew rotary, it was able to start from Shimla,
later shifting to Ambala Cantonment and subsequently to Chandigarh.

It celebrated its centenary with a good deal of fanfare in 1981.

During the period between Dyal Singh’s death and the Chief
Court’s judgement on April 3, 1900, and Privy Council’s on Aug. 5,

3. A History of the Tribune by Piakash Ananda, Tribune Press, Chandigarh,
1986, pp. 46-7.

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1903 some of the properties of the Sirdar had been grabbed by the
men of Rani Bhagwan Kaur, Mrs. Catherine Gill and Gajindar Singh,
especially immovable properties in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Lahore
districts. There was prolonged litigation, between Rani Bhagwan
Kaur, Mrs. Catherine Gill and the Trustees. The entire macabre
episode, of which Ruchi Ram Sahni has given an interesting account,
throws a good deal of light on the state of the Punjab and how the
legal cases were conducted at the turn of the century.

In the early stages of the litigation, says Ruchi Ram Sahni,
a man who said he was the basta bardar of Sultan Bux, came one day
and said that he would come and tell the plans of Sultan Bux and
his advisers. He said he was always present when Sultan Bux went
to consult lawyers or when he had discussions with the Rani or other
people in connection with the case. A process-server in a law court,
he understood the nuances of such matters very well. He had been
dismissed earlier for something, which he had done, but that did
not take away his usefulness for the purpose for which he offered his
services.

The information he supplied to Sahni was frequently tested
by employing special messengers, who followed Sultan Bux on bicycle
during his visits to the lawyers, and found correct and useful. The
men who most ungrudgingly did this service for the trust were Lala
Gur Das Ram Chhabra, a teacher in Dyal Singh High School and
Pandit Atma Ram, also in the service of the school. He subsequently
became the Editor and Proprietor of the weekly paper called the
Sewak.

Sultan, Bux’s basta bardar was paid one rupee each time he
came with some useful information. It proved to be of very great
value and Sahni came to trust him. One of the pieces of information,
which this man supplied was that it had been decided to bring in
Dr William R. Clark, one of the witness to the original will, to
give evidence. Clark was at the time Civil Surgeon ofLohore.
The other witness was Col. C.H.T. Marshall, then a Session Judge
at Lahore.

The exact words which Dr Clark was to use in the course of
his evidence were dictated by Lala Lai Chand, the principal lawyer
engaged by the Rani. Fighting the case, as if he had a personal
interest in it, Lala Lai Chand, as President of the D. A -V. College
Committee, had sanctioned a large sum of money to Sultan Bux from
the D.A.V. College funds at a low rate of interest with the object of
helping the Rani to fight the case.

1 68

LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

The exact words which Lala Lai Chaud wanted Dr Clark to
use in the course of his evidence in the Chief Court in the prolobate
case were communicated by Sahni to Lala Harkishen Lai, who trans-
mitted them on to trustee’s lawyer. Turner. This Turner, a brother
of Sir Charles Turner, Chief Justice of Madras, was a very highly
connected person. He moved in the highest European circles at
Lahore on a footing of equality.

He told Sir Arthur H.S. Reid, one of the two trying judges in the
will case, what Clark was going to say, and how he had come to know
of it. Sir Arthur Reid said he would find out if that was so from
the manner of Clark’s evidence, as also from the questions which he
himself proposed to put to him. If he came to know that Clark was
under some sort of outside influence, he would certainly discount
his evidence.

Says Ruchi Ram Sahni, “I know that things like this are not
permitted in law, but one also knows that many things, which are not
permitted in law, are done all the same. I know that Reid was fully
convinced that some kind of influence had been brought to bear upon
Clark and that his evidence was not to be trusted without question .” 4

Another source of valuable information was an old man who
came to Sahni from Amritsar and begged him to recommend the name
of his son, then studying in Mayo School of Arts, for a scholarship
of four rupees a month. This man was none other than the chief cook
of Rani Bhagwan Kaur.

The cook, it occurred to Sahni at once, could be of immense
help in supplying with information as to what was going on at the
other end. This cook was a very intelligent man, as most servants
employed in the old aristrocratic families were, and as the Rani was a
pardha - observing lady any communication from Sultan Bux was made
to her by shouting to her across the closed door, or from behind a thick
curtain. The principal of the school, where the cook’s son was reading,
was one Bhai Ram Singh, a close friend of Sahni. Leaving the man at
his house Sahni went to Bhai Ram Singh and by coaxing and entreaties,
made him sanction the scholarship for his son.

The cook of Rani Bhagwan Kaur had free access to her, and
from that time onwards he made it a point to gather all the news
he could to be communicated to Sahni, either personally by coming

4. The unpublished 33-page text of what appears to be a lecture by Ruchi Ram
Sahni made available by the Tribune Library.

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down to Lahore or by sending a letter in Gurnvukhi, which he colud
himself write and which Sahni could easily read.

More often than not he would come down to Lahore himself and
was paid one rupee as bakhshish. Of this one rupee only four annas
went to his own pocket, the rest being the railway fare which he had to
pay for the journeys to Lahore forward and backwards.

Information which the Rani’s cook would bring from behind
the pardah in the haveli of Rani Bhagwan Kaur, proved to be extre-
mely valuable. At times even ordinary bits of information, like the
visit of a person to the Rani or a talk which he had with the lawyer,
and other matters of that kind proved to be of very great importance,
either directly or as connecting links in the story.

The basta bardar of Sultan Bux and the cook of Rani, kept
the trustees very well posted with fairly reliable information as to what
was happening in the “enemy’s camp” not only in connection with the
probate case, but also with a dozen other cases, which arose out of
more or less forcible possession of properties spread over three districts
of the Punjab.

Ruchi Ram Sahni narrates a very interesting incident which saved
the trustees a great deal of trouble in the probate case. He says Dr
Sahib Ditta Mai, a langotia yar (bosom friend) of Sirdar Dyal Singh,
was the medical man whom the Sirdar consulted during all the years
they had known each other. Even though Dr Cunningham was
officially in charge of the case during the last days of Sirdar ’s life, it
was Dr Sahib Ditta Mai and his son who were constant attendants
upon the patient.

Despite the Sirdar’s closeness to Sahib Ditta Mai, the latter
was “not above being purchased.” In fact, his general reputation was
not very good. When Sahni learnt that he had been summoned as a
witness in the probate case by the Rani, it caused concern. Also
information reached Sahni that, among other things, Sahib Ditta Mai
was going to depose in the Chief Court that the Sirdar was of feeble
mind, and that particularly during the month when the will was made,
he was very much dejected and unwell, and he was found more than
usually drunk in order to get over his depression. He was also going
to say that the Sirdar was very fond of taking beef and that, for that
reason, his own community did not dine with him or had any social
relations with him.

Says Sahni, “Lala Harkishen Lai took a very serious view of the
evidence which Dr Sahib Ditta Mai was expected to give. On one
or two occasions, he said, it may influence the judges materially

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

in their judgement in the probate case. He was arranging that Dr
Berry be present in court during the evidence of Dr Sahib Ditta
Mai, so as to help our lawyers in cross-examining him on medical
lines. All this made me very anxious about the result of the probate
case in the Chief Court .” 5

One day Sahni had a brain-wave which proved to be effective.
He says, “My idea was to get at Dr Behari Lai Dhingra, an
M.D. from Brussels University, somehow or other, and get
him to give his opinion, in writing, about the Sirdar’s ways
andf his eating and drinking habits, the social position which
he occupied and the regard in which he was held by his
community and by the public at large, and other matters on
which, as we had learnt, his father was going to give his
evidence against us. Dr Behari Lai Dhingra was at this time
at Simla.

Writing to him directly would not have served the purpose I
had in view. I wanted him to write tome, rather than I
write to him. With this object in view, I contributed a few
letters to the editor of The Tribune on the bogus medical
degrees which some people in the Punjab, as in the rest of
India, had secured in recent years. Soon after my first letter
appeared, I received a letter, as indeed I had expected, from
Dr Behari Lai Dhingra, praising my public spirit and my
independence and all the rest of it for having rendered a great
public service to the province. I replied to the letter at
once, befittingly acknowledging his compliments and asking
for further information on the subject, so as to enable me to
write one or two more articles for The Tribune.

In a postcard I also said casually that he (Dr Dhingra) had
known Sirdar Dyal Singh very well for several years and that
he was also present for several weeks during the last illness
of the Sirdar, and I asked him what his information and
impression was about the Sirdar. Sure enough a reply came
promptly giving me all the information I had wanted about
the Sirdar, as well as about the bogus medical degrees. I
exchanged one or two more letters with Dr Dhingra, and sent
altogether three letters to The Tribune on the bogus medical
degrees.

In the letters which Dr Dhingra sent to me from Simla he

5. Ibid.

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cleared all the points, on which I had asked for information
or enlightenment in a manner entirely satisfactory to us.
After knowing that this statements were perhaps a bit more
favourable to us than the actual facts, as we knew them,
warranted, I placed these letters before Lala Harkishen Lai
and told him that if Dr Sahib Ditta Mai’s evidence went
against us, we could produce his son as contradicting the
father. Lala Harkishen Lai’s face beamed up and he said;
“When the case is over, I will present a library of books to
you.” He got up from his seat and taking down two metal
brackets he handed them over to me as a present in memory
of the event. 1 treasure the brackets still.”*

Lala Harkishen Lai made one important alteration in the
plan which was suggested to him. Instead of producing the
son after the father had given evidence, he said that he would
show the letters to the father, just a short time before he was
going to the court and tell him that, if he gave evidence
against what the son was expected to give as shown by the
letters, the son would be produced to contradict the father.”

After some deliberation it was decided that Lala Sharda Ram,
of the Brahmo Samaj, an old and intimate friend of Dr Sahib Ditta
Mai, be made the bearer of the letters to Dr Sahib Ditta Mai on the
day he came for evidence. Sharda Ram could be safely trusted with
the custody of the letters. In every other way he was well suited for
the mission with which he was charged.

On the day, Dr Sahib Ditta Mai’s examination in the Chief
Court was to take place, Lala Sharda Ram met him at the railway
station, at about 9 a.m. The letters were shown to him. Sharda
Ram’s own impression was that he was very much taken aback at
the sight of these letters and said that, but for them, he would
possibly have given his evidence in favour of the Rani.

Continues Sahni :

“Further, as arranged previously by us, myself, Lala Dharam
Das Suri and one or two others took turns in seeing Dr Sahib Ditta
Mai during the interval between his arrival at Lahore and his going
in the court room.”

“For, according to the advice of Lala Harkishen Lai, it was
arranged that we should not leave him alone during those two or

6. Ibid.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

three hours, that is before his evidence began sometime in the after-
noon. He was not allowed to meet Sultan Bux or any body else.

“The evidence in the court, though not exactly so enthusiastic
in our favour as that of his son might have been, was not against us.

I was not present in court during the evidence, as I had a class to take
at college but, as soon as I had done with my college work, I made
haste to go to the Chief Court on my bicycle. I was hailed from a
distance by Lala Dharam Dass, who shouted out to me “mubarik
mubarik."'’

Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni also tells us the role Mrs. L. Catherine
Gill played. He says :

One of the properties round which a struggle between
ourselves and the Rani and Mrs. Gill — the case lasted for a
considerable time — was the big village of Mirza Jan situated
about seven miles from Batala. Very early after instituting
the probate case in the Chief Court at Lahore Lala Harkishen
Lai, Charles Golok Nath, Golak Nath Chatterjee and myself
went to Batala in order to study the whole position in regard
to the village of Mirza Jan and find out how the villagers
were disposed towards ourselves.

It was a sort of reconnoitring party. With the help of
some men of the Batala Christian Mission, we tried to get
into touch with the villagers to whom we offered liberal terms
of tenure of their lands if they agreed to recognise us
formally as being in possession of the village and to take
the lease from us. It was not long before we discovered
that the people of Mirza Jan were not well disposed towards
us and that in case we took a strong action in any way, there
was the risk of breach of peace.

We, therefore, returned to Lahore and, with the advice of
our lawyer, Bakhshi Jaishi Ram, posted Lala Moti Ram
at Batala with instructions that he should do what he could
to enter into better relations with the inhabitants of the
village. Through the help of one of my pupils, I made the
acquaintance of the Tehsildar of Batala, Lala Ghasi Ram.
In a short time, chiefly through the influence of the Tehsildar,
Lala Moti Ram got into touch with some of the leading men
at Mirza Jan, with the result that within a short time, a fair
number of leases were drawn up in our favour. Unfortu-

7. Ibid.

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nately at this time, the Rani’s men also appeared on the
scene and, as they were already well known in the village,
they succeeded in getting a number of leases written in
favour of the Rani. There was, thus, danger of breach of
peace between the two parties namely our man and his
supporters among the villagers and the Rani’s men and
their supporters. Lala Moti Ram was called to Lahore for
consultation.

It is necessary to mention here that at this time and for a
couple of years later a small farmer of the name of Budh
Singh who belonged to Mirza Jan and had a small piece of
land on lease was taken into my private service on Rs. 7 a
month. His duty was simply to remain at Mirza Jan, collect
important news and bring it either to me at Lahore or to
Lala Moti Ram if he happened to be at Batala. This constant
stream of information proved very useful to us in as much as
we knew exactly what was happening practically from week
to week. It is strange that the visits of Budh Singh did not
arouse any suspicion among the villagers, who were opposed
to us. Budh Singh was also able to induce some of the
bigger tenants, who were disgusted for one reason or another
, with the Rani’s men to come over to us. One main reason,
which must have influenced them in our favour was probably
the fact that sooner or later we were bound to succeed and be
in possession of the property and that, in case they did not
treat us well at that time, they will have but little claim upon
our kindness as real and permanent proprietors of the lands.
This is the line of argument which Budh Singh was asked to
use with the tenants. However, as many of the villagers were
inimical to us it must have required no small tact and courage
on his part to set about his business.

He did his work very weir indeed and he well deserved
the small pay that he was drawing from me. The trustees
afterwards gave him a small reward, I think, the value of
which was something between Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 only. A
small compensation for a man who was doing so much in such
critical and difficult circumstances. Budh Sigh was a reservist
and was drawing a small pay from the Army Department. He
was a very shrewd and a wide-awake man. He carried out
extremely well the onerous tasks with which he was entrusted
from time to time.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

When the tension between the Rani’s men and our own
supporters in Mirza Jan became very keen, and it was feared
that serious disturbances will break out in the village between
the two parties, Lala Harkishen Lai and other advisers
worked out a plan by which, while we gradually retired from
the village we induced and helped Mrs. Gill to get into the
village and take possession of as much of it as she possibly
could. Our idea, of course, was that it would not be proper
for us to get involved into serious criminal cases with the
Rani’s men. After Mrs. Gill was persuaded to get into the
village in our place, there would be enough disputes and
criminal cases between her and the Rani. We knew that
Rani’s case was very much stronger than that of Mrs. Gill,
morally as well as legally.

In fact, Mrs. Gill had no case whatsoever. She could claim
nothing beyond Rs. 20,000 that had been left to her in the
will. With this object in view, Lala Moti Ram helped Mrs.
Gill and her men intrude into the village. She was successful
largely because she was a White woman, and the people had
dread of a White woman. She was generally accompanied by
a number of Christian women from the Batala Mission, whom
she paid something, from time to time. The Patwari of Mirza
Jan, who had been in our pay before and was helping us, was
asked to transfer his help to Mrs. Gill.

Mrs. Gill had also found a paramour in a young influential
person at Batala of the name of Sher Singh, who used all
his local influence on the side of Mrs. Gill in the hope
that he would be master of a big village like Mirza Jan.
Within a very short time Mrs. Gill succeeded in driving out
practically all the servants of the Rani from the village.
In fact. Sunder Das, who was our principal man in the camp
of the Rani was the only man allowed to remain in the
village. In about three months, Mrs. Gill was able to recover
some rent from the tenants at Mirza Jan. She proceeded in a
very thorough manner to establish her possession on the
village. She remodelled the haveli there, so as to be fit
residence for herself. I have lived in those rooms myself and
I must say that her standard of living must be very low
indeed, but perhaps she was handicapped by many consider-
ations. She had some of the gardens cut down and a large
number of other trees were also cut down and the timber was

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presented to her own favourites among the villagers. She
adopted the name of “Rani Lachhman Kaur” and became a
Bara Memsahib in the village. At this stage, Lala Moti Ram
was again sent to Batala to renew his efforts for taking
possession of the village from Mrs. Gill.” 8

On April 3, 1900, the Chief Court upheld the validity of the Will.
However, Rani Bhagwan Kaur went to the Privy Council but lost
litigation for other properties continued for a long long time. When
the bulk of it ended, The Tribune wrote on September 9, 1907 the ninth
death anniversary of the Sardar :

“...Then a compromise was effected by the executors of the
Sardar’s last Will and Testament with the Sardar’s Rani
Sahiba and his cousin, Sardar Gaj'indar Singh. The terms of
the compromise, which duly received the sanction of the Chief
Court, provided that the Rani Sahiba will receive a mainte-
nance allowance of Rs. 450 per mensum for her lifetime,
subject to no conditions or restrictions whatsoever, beginning
with March 1,1906, over and above the rights which the
Sardar’s Will had given to her, and two villages were set apart
to safeguard the necessary amount during the Rani Sahiba’s
lifetime. Further the Rani Sahiba was to receive Rs. 15,000
for payment of her liabilitie s...”

As part of the compromise, some property - and liquid assets of
the College and Library Trusts were also transferred to Rani Bhagwan
Kaur and other claimants from among the heirs of the late Sirdar.
However, it was not the end of all litigation; Gajinder Singh and his
family continued it for some more years.

As we have seen above Dyal Singh had left the bulk of his
assets in the shape of prime properties in Lahore, lands, gardens and
houses in Amritsar, Lahore and Gurdaspur districts of the Punjab and
in Karachi in Sind and also cash and investments in banks and cotton
mills, etc., to a board of Trustees which was to set up and run afirstrate
arts college. That’s why, in subsequent litigation, the Dyal Singh
College trust was accorded a status of “overriding basic precedence”
among the three trusts.

The members of the College trust included well known educa-
tionists. One of them, Ruchi Ram Sahni, was a Brahmo, who took
more than usual interest in the fulfilment of the objects of the three
trusts. He wa closely associated with the running, since its inception.

8. Ibid.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

of the Union Academy, which Dyal Singh had set up in his lifetime,
and which became, in some ways, the precursor out of which grew the
Dyal Singh College.

Dyal Singh’s bequest to the trust was to establish and maintain,
out of the funds and income of the property mentioned in paragraph
VIII of his Will, “a first class arts college, with or without any
school classes as to the said committee may appear desirable, to be
called by such name as the committee may decide, for the spread and
dissemination of a sound liberal education in the province, in which
college every attempt shall be made to inculcate pure morality
and the principles of theism consistent with the tenets of the Jlrahmo
religion by the personal example of the teaching staff as far as
possible and by instituting a course of lectures and such other similar
means as may to the said committee appear proper and feasible.”

Save as above provided, the Will laid down “the said college
shall in all other respects be a thoroughly efficient non-denominational
college affiliated to the universities of Calcutta and the Punjab,
teaching up to the highest standards imparting instruction on the
same lines generally as in the Government colleges in this country
and looking after and prompting the physical, mental and moral well-
being of the pupils on its rolls.”

All efforts made by the trustees were frustrated by the prolonged
litigation over the validity of Dyal Singh’s Will almost till the
compromise of 1906-07 was arrived at. Immediately thereafter, the
trustees initiated action to set up the ‘first class’ college he had wished.
None of the properties that Dyal Singh had bequeathed was suitable
to house a college. However, there was one on the Empress Road
that was suitable for housing a hostel named, aptly after Raja Ram
Mohan Roy. 9 The trustees hired a building at a rental of
Rs. 9,072 per annum and appointed Shri N.G. Welankar, a noted
Brahmo scholar from Maharashtra, the first principal. That there
was no proper office for him did not matter. What was needed was
dedication which the trustees and the teachers brought to their
work.

It was the done thing then that was the highest personage in
the province be called to inaugurate the college. Babu Jogendra
Chander Bose, one of the closest friends of Dyal Singh and an original

9. The hostel named after Raja Rammohan Roy todiyis at the back of the
Government Dyal Singh College on Nisbet Road, Lahore. The other hostel is
still on Empress Road.

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member of the college trust, led a delegation to Sir Louis Dane,
Lt. Governor of the Punjab, to request him to inaugurate the Dyal
Singh College on May 3, 1910. He agreed. In a message to the
Tribune, Bose wrote that “to me, who was so intimately connected
with the late lamented Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, during the last
twenty years of his life, it has caused a thrill of joy that one of the
cherised wishes of my esteemed friend is approching fruition. . . . Not
only trustees of the College, not only any particular section of the
community, but the whole general public ought to feel delighted that
the Dyal Singh College after all is going to be an accomplished fact.’’

“A misunderstanding seems to prevail in certain quarters, he
added, that the college is intended to be a sectarian institution.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The will of Sardar Dyal
Singh, which is foundation of the trust, distinctly lays down that the
college is to be a thoroughly efficient, non-denominational institution,
a first class arts college teaching upto the higher university standards
and imparting a sound liberal education .... The property, including
cash, devoted to these benefactions may be roughly computed to be
worth about 30 lakhs of rupees and shows the magnanimity of the
noble donor’s head and heart.’’

The prayer offered at the inaugural function ended thus : “May
this institution prove a fitting memorial not only of its great bene-
factor, but also of his broad sacrifices and enlightened patriotism,
and may it inspire successive generations of youngmen with devotion
to high ideals ... in the service of God and humanity.”

The college’s logo carried the motto : “Gather ye the wisdom
of the East and the West.”

Nagendranath Gupta, who was then editing The Leader of
Allahabad, wrote in The Tribune dated 4th May 1910 : “ . . . Many
students owed their education to Dyal Singh, and we cannot
enumerate the number of widows and orphans for whom we got help
from him. The various institutions in Lahore and elsewhere always
received his generous support. His motto was :

“He who' builds for God and not for fame,
will not mark the marble with his name.”

Gupta added : “Dyal Singh bequeathed all his property for the
establishment of this college and for a theological library. This shows
the broadness of his heart. He was, perhaps, the only unique man

10. The Tribune, dated May 4, 1910.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

in the Punjab who bequeathed his all for public good 1 And the
sole object of his gift was the spiritual, moral, intellectual and
political advancement of generations to come. My earnest prayer
to God is that these fourfold objects may be fulfilled by its tribune
gift — the college, the library and The Tribune ,” u

Siva Nath Sastri, the official historian of the Brahmo Samaj,
wrote in his book that “a college in his name was started by the
trustees of The Dyal Singh Fund, amongst whom, members of the
Samaj, like Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni and Babu Abinash Chunder
Mazumdar, form a majority. This college has brought together, as
teachers, several theists from Bombay and Bengal whose presence in
Lahore, and participation in the work of the Samaj, is a source of
new strength to the cause. Of the new arrivals, Messers N.G.
Welankar and V.A. Sukhthankar from Bombay and Babu Bipin
Behari Shehanabis from Bengal deserve special notice.” 12

Sastri’s observation that “it is indeed a matter for rejoicing that
the New Dispensation ists and Sadharan (Brahmo) Samaj men work
hard in hand in promoting the objects of the Samaj and the Punjab
Samaj stands at present on the combined strength” is an indication
that Dyal Singh was a devoted Brahmo, and was keen to bring light
of enlightenment to the people in the Punjab.

It was only three years later, in 1913 that work on the building
of the college at Nisebet Road was started initially with a hall.

The college met a felt-need and the number of pupils on its roll
shot up from 190 in 1910 to 504 in 1913, the year in which the Deputy
Commissioner of Lahore gave a large chunk of land near the
Charing Cross for use as playground for the college.

In the first four years the college turned out 425 B.A.s., 4 B.Sc.s.
and 4 M.A.s. Those passing B.A. (Hons.) in 1914 numbered 8 and
as many as 10 in 1917. In the University’s Hons. Examination,
Dyal Singh College students topped the list in three subjects, one a
Hindu, another a Muslim and the third a Sikh. In the F.Sc. results
of the Panjab University Dyal Singh College stood second in the
Province.

A hostel, named after Raja Ram Mohan Roy, was set up in a
building on Empress Road, owned by Dyal Singh and given to
the trust. It had seats for about 60 pupils. In 1918, the pupils
numbered 700.

11. Ibid.

12. A History of the Brahmo Samaj, pp. 443-444.

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THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT

APRIL 1992

As the hostel was a great attraction for students coming to this
college from outside, the Trust in the subsequent years rented two
more buildings on Empress Road, for which it paid Rs. 16,809/-
annually as rent. Within the first ten years, the college made remark-
able progress. In March 1918, the Chancellor, a product of Balliol
College, Oxford, while giving away prizes, observed that the college
was unique in the sense that it was run on the patriotism and
magnanimity of a single individual, like some of those in the U.S.A.
and the U.K, where spiritual, cultural, academic and literary values
are instilled in the pupils. The principal then paid a tribute to the
three trustees — Shashi Bhushan Mukherjee, Prof. G.N. Chatterjee and
Charles Golak Nath — who had passed away in the previous year.

Sir Edward McLagan, Lt. Governor of the Punjab, speaking on
the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the college, on May 3, 1920,
observed : “I had the privilege of being present at the opening
ceremony of the college ten years ago, and it is interesting to find now
that what was then a mere expectation of a college has now become a
large and important reality ...

It is clear from what Principal A.C. Roy has told us that the
college has in the ten years of its existence made remarkable develop-
ment and established itself firmly as one of the prominent educational
institutions of the province.

Mr- Roy’s report on the year now ended shows that the progress
made is being steadily maintained. I am glad to see that he has not
forgotten, as is sometimes done in modern reports, to mention the
progress made by students in their studies. The college, which is
making progress in spheres which constitute true education, has main-
tained a good standard in its studies also, and I congratulate it on
the results.

I have no doubt that, in its development, the college has been
helped not a little by its name. I was glad to hear Mr. Roy spoke
first of the founder of the college and of the fact that it owes its
origin to the liberality of one individual. I do not know what theory
of history finds favour in the curriculum here. But I do think that
in regard to the history of the college itself, the influence of indivi-
duals shaping events, must receive the fullest recognition. The per-
sonal touch which is imparted to the character of the college by the
memory of the founder is a factor of great value, and one which you
would do well to cherish. It is an asset for the possession of which
many other institutions may envy you. The founder, as in
your case, was a man of enlightend culture, one known for phiJan-

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

thropy, one of an illustrious family, and one by birth a Punjabi of
Punjabis. To this college, established by his liberality, I wish all
success, and prosperity along the lines on which it has made its start.

From its very inception the college laid a good deal of emphasis
greater than most other colleges— on sports, gymnastics and extra
curricular activities, in addition, of course, to the academic pursuits.
Prof. P.E. Richards joined the college as the head of English Depart-
ment in 1911. His wife, Norah Richards, encouraged students to
take interest in dramatics. The college dramatic society started in
October 1912 built a permanent stage and theatre in the following
year. It staged ‘A Mid Summer Nights Dream’, ‘As you Like it’,.
‘Merchant of Venice’, ‘Julius Caesar’ etc. Some of these performan-
ces were staged on the occasion of such festivals as the Id, Basant,
Lohri or Raja Ram Mohan Roy anniversary.

Such was the devotion of this couple to the arts that, even after
the death of Prof. Richards, Norah stayed on in India and promoted
theatre movement. She died in Kangra several years after indepen-
dence! In addiiton to the dramatic arts, the college had several
associations or clubs or debating societies e.g. a Cultural Club,
Muslim Association, Guru Nanak Club, Young Men Brahmo . Asso-
ciation, Punjab Literary Club, Scientific Society, two literary bodies,
Union Senate and Union Parliament. All these organisations were
active. Debates were held on various subjects. In March 1912, a
meeting held under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor C.R. Ewing
debated whether there ought to be free and compulsory elementary
education. When the Begum of Bhopal made primary education
compulsory in her state and the Nizam of Hyderabad set up the
Osmania University with Urdu as the medium of instruction, the Coll-
ege sent congratulatory messages. The college also encouraged the
students to write, and in order to involve the students in the college
activities through written reports, it started an eight-page college
‘Letter’, which in subsequent years became the “Union” then “Dyal
Singh College Miscellany” and later still the “Dyal Singh College
Magazine”, with sections in English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.
There was a good deal of harmony and understanding between diffe-
rent classes in the college. When the Muslim Association observed
the Id-i-Milad, Hindu students and teachers in large numbers parti-
cipated in the function. A function organised by the Guru Nanak
Club was presided over by Sir Abdul Qadir, who asked the students
to carry the message of Sikhism to the far corners of the country.

13. The Tribune, dated May 4, 1920.

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VOL.XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

Two teams participating in the declamation contest were so chosen
that one consisting of Hindu and Sikh students spoke on Islam, its
culture and social values and the other team consisting of Muslim
students spoke of the religion, cultural values and social systems
of Hindus and Sikhism. The judges included Raja Narendr a Nath,
Mr. Justice Teja Singh, Prof. Abdul Majid, Principal O.H. Malik and

R. B. Durga Das. There were arrangements in the college for ins-
tructions in different theological systems and Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s
ideals were followed. His anniversary was a function where all students
participated. The teachers were also distinguished in their own dis-
ciplines. Quite a few of them made a mark in life. To name a few Sir

S. S. Bhatnagar was the architect of India’s national laboratories. L. R.
Sethi and P. N. Kirpal retired as Secretaries to the Government of India,
Som Nath Chib as D.G. Tourism, L.R. Nair as P.T.O., D. A.V.P., Direc-
tor of Institute of Mass Communication. In 1917, arrangements were
made for Hons, classes in Maths and Persian. In 1918, for M.A. in
Persian, B.Sc. in Botany and Zoology, as also Chemistry and Indus-
trial Chemistry. A Science Block was set up for Physics and Chemistry
classes. Prof. S.S. Bhatnagar was given leave and financial help to go
and study in Europe.

In 1922, a new lecture room was provided for the teaching of
Maths. A noted Mathematician Hem Raj (who was later principal),
who was teaching Maths, was nominated to the Academic Council
of the Panjab University, as also Sheikh Abdul Qadir and Maulana
Ilumuddin Saliq. A number of students did well and obtained top
position and won scholarships, as they did in sports and gymnastics.

In 1924, the college started imparting military trainmg and had a
“Dyal Singh Detachment 4. ” This training was availed of by 73
students. It presented a guard of honour to Lord Irwin, which led,
in years to come, to the acceptance of military science as an optional
subject for B.A.

The college continued to make progress and gained in popularity
with all communities. Of the 598 students on its rolls in 1924, there
were 432 Hindus, 130 Sikhs and 33 Muslims, The number of teachers
also shot up from 8 in 1910 to 18 and six demonstrators in 1924. In
1925, when the Panjab University approved the affiliation for Arabic
classes, Maulana Ahsanullah Tajwar of Najibabad of the U.P., who
was teaching in Sana tan Dharam Middle School, was appointed
teacher for Arabic,

The number of students in the hostels also increased to 360 and
the college trust society started the construction of a 100-room

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

Cambridge hostel at Empress Road, at a cost of Rs. 1 lakh. The
college was making strides. At the prize distribution ceremony on
March 21, 1917, the Vice-Chancellor Sir John Maynard, who presided
over the function, observed :

“I knew Sardar (Dyal Singh Majithia) a little in earlier days. I
was younger than the Sardar, but I had read of him, what he was to
friends. And as I knew of him and read of him, I wondered more
and more why it had not struck any one . . . that it was necessary and
desirable to write a life of him to tell the people of the great virtues he
had ....

He never sought the smiles of fortune, was just, generous, wise,
tolerant of the opinions of others, never sought the friendship of
men of wealth or position, but of men of character. He gave to
others, but sought nothing from them. He was a scholar, I might say
a great scholar. He founded the Dyal Singh College and other
institutions by his will, which showed his munificence and generosity.

He was what might be called a “great gentleman.” He was a
lover of music and arts, which required to be rehabilitated. He was
a man of business, and always kept his accounts himself. He was
absolutely truthful. He was a great Punjabi patriot, I might say, a
great Indian patriot.

The Sardar was not only a great patriot, but also a great
philanthrop. He gave freely in charity, but he never allowed his
head to run away with the heart. Though his charities were numerous,
he never gave until he was satisfied that it deserved his assistance. He
made a great will, but he never boasted of what he did. He did
good without telling people of it.” 14

In 1932, the college introduced co-education, with two women
students, their number rising to five in the following! year. Two
women teachers were appointed.

A part of the college grounds was swampy. Thanks to the
efforts of PrOf. D.N. Bhalla (who later became principal) and the
students, the land was reclaimed and converted into a beautiful
lawn.

Three tennis courts were also laid. However, a drain passing by
the college remained an eyes sore. The matter was taken up with the
Lahore Municipality and people that mattered, but all in vain, till

14. Speech delivered at the prize distribution function held on March 21,1917,
and published in the souvenir brought out on the seventh anniversary of the
Dyal Singh College, pp. 27-29.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

1938 v/han the new Prime Minister of the Punjab, Sir Sikander Hyat
Khan, took interest.

The number of students continued and rose to 967 in 1933. Four
years later the enrolment was so heavy that there was little sitting
place in the class rooms. Three part-time teachers were appointed.
In 1938, those on the rolls numbered 1099 (including 22 women
students' consisting of 721 Hindus, 174 Muslims and 195 Sikhs.

In 1944, the college’s scheme for teaching English up to M.A.
was approved. Arrangements for the study of Sanskrit up to M.A.
were also made. Interestingly, there were arrangement for the
teaching of Bengali as an optional subject.

Students in 1945 numbered 1,031. To meet the needs of
students some rooms in Dewan Motilal’s house on Nicholson Road
were taken on rent. A cooperative students store was started in 1945
to tide over the war time shortages in essential goods for the students.

Dyal Singh College was a symbol of education and culture.
Teachers loved money only apparently. In fact, they loved bocks.
Their temperament was that of an ordinary faqir. It is true that
in those days the needs in one’s life were fewer. Prices had not
spiralled. Yet they did not form unions to ask for wage increase.
Nor did they use political arguments. And although there were
agitations and there were hartals also, all these were outside the
boundary walls of the college.

According to an old alumni Aijaz Hussain ‘Batalvi’, before the
creation of Pakistan, communal amity was one aspect of
the life in the city of Lahore. Here was a multi-denominational
society consisting of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Bahais and
Parsis, who lived it was a characteristic of the city in communal amity.
Respect for other faiths was tradition in the Dyal Singh College.
Alongside was also the traditions of mutual understanding. A teacher
of the history depar ment, Lajpat Rai Nair, invited Quaid-i-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah to come and address the college students.
The Quaid-i-Azam accepted the invitation and addressed the students
in the big hall. 15

The Secretary of the Debating Club was a Sikh. He invited Sir
Abdul Qadir to address the students on the main influences in his life.
Hussain ‘Batalvi’ says that the teachers never took leave nor did the

15. Diamond J ubilee Souvenir of the Government Dyal Singh College, Lahore,
1988.

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LEGACY OF DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA

students play truant. Hartals had not yet become every day affair.
Examinations were held twice every year. Those students who came
late to the class were not marked present, and there were no proxies.

“My two years in the college atmosphere gave me plenty of self-
confidence”, says Rehman Muzlib, an old alumni of Dyal Singh
College, writing about his days in the college. “In my time the atmos-
phere in the Dyal Singh College, from the educational viewpoint,
was very fruitful.” Although the country . watched several agitations
and campaigns, in the college it was like “All Quiet on the Western
Front.” Our professors came to the college solely with the object of
teaching the pupils. The students also came only to study,

“Never was a political issue raised within the precincts of the
college. In their spare time, the pupils went to the library and sat
with a book, or a journal or a newspaper. The atmosphere was un-
suited to any other activity. Means of transport and entertainment
were limited. But there was never a paucity of books.

“Unlike these- days, when in the showroom one sees seminude,
or sensational and provocative books, in my time one got only good
books in bookshelves. The book trade had not yet bade good-bye to
character-building and social values. For one shilling one got a
book in the Penguin series. All the volumes of the History of Greece
were available for just fifteen rupees 1

“Unlike the elections of today, dominated by gun totting and
vying with those to the assembly elections, the Union elections were
held quitely, as if nothing had happened. Election fever affected only
the three or four candidates, or their dozen or so supporters. In fact,
there was no such thing as election Fever. The majority group did riot
assert itself. Only a few students convassed among friends and that too
outside the classrooms and always in low tones. On election day,
the students collected in the hall at the appointed time. The candi-
dates were called one by one and were asked to speak on a given
subject. Those present elected whom they considered the best.
That was the end of the election process. There was no men-
tion afterwards.” 16 According to Prof. Shujauddin “for character-
building and intellectual and proper development of student, a book-
let in English was circulated among the students. It carried the
following Do’s and Don’ts ;

1. Do not come to the college without properly attending to personal
16. Ibid, '

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

hygiene; washing your face, brushing your teeth and dressing
your hair.

2. Do not spit, clean or dig your nose in public. Make use of your
h andkerchief.

3. Do not keep the shirt outside the trousers.

4. Do not come to the class-room without your fountain pen, note-
book.

5. Do not leave the door open on entering a class-room.

6. Do not put your hand in your coat or trousers pockets when talk-
ing to your teacher.

7. Do not talk in the class-room.

8. Do not call out by proxy during the roll call, or serious action
will be taken.

9. When making a request to your teacher always use the word
‘Please’ e.g. Please mark me present.

10. Do not talk in the library.

11. Do not come to the college without Identity Card.

12. Do not crowd at the college gate, the college bus stop, the college
office, or the Principal’s office and the staff-room.

13. Do not write or scribble on the walls and furniture.

14. Do not drag or shift about the chairs.

15. Do not smoke in the college premises.

16. Do not omit to wipe your shoes on the doormat before entering
the Principal’s office.

17. Do not enter the Principal’s office if a student or visitor or
teacher or clerk is already with him. Wait for your turn.

18. Do not say ‘O.K.’ while talking to your teachers, say ‘Yes Sir.’

19. Do not miss to greet your teachers whenever you meet them.”
Then came partition. By August 15, 1947, Hindu and Sikh

students migrated to India, leaving alone 200 Muslim students.
Muslim teachers in the college included Abid Ali Abid, Allama
Tajwar, Ashiq Mohammad Ghori and Maulvi Mohammad Ashraf.
Dewan Anand Kumar, Dean of the Science Faculty in the Panjab
University and member of the trust and Secretary of the Dyal Singh
College trust, sent a telegram to Prof. Abid Ali Abid with a cheque
for Rs. l,OO0, asking him to take over as principal of the college and,
with the help of Sheikh Abdul Haque, realise the rent of Dyal Singh
Mansion in Lahore and run the college. 17 Mr. Justice S.A. Rehman,
the Custodian appointed Abid and Sheikh Abdul Haque as co-trustees.
As they were familiar with the Dyal Singh College traditions, the

17. Told to the author by Dewan Gaj inder Kumar.

186

LEGACY OF DYAL- SINGH MAJiTHIA
college was able to maintain a continuity. The name now is
Government Dyal Singh College. While the trust properties in Lahore
were taken over by Waqf Board, those in Amritsar and Gurdaspur
districts were taken over by the Dyal Singh College Trust that came to
Delhi. Dewan Anand Kumar, member secretary of the trust
suceeded in gett'ng a valuable evacuee property r in Karnal allotted to
Dyal Singh College at Karnal. Anathe; college under the same name
was started by Dyal Siagh iastitusions' admirers in New Delhi. This
is under the U.G.C. There are thus three Dyal Singh Colleges in
the Indian sub continent.

Dyal Singh Public Library

Owing to the protracted litigation over the validity of Dyal
Singh’s Will, it was 12 years after the Founder’s death that the board
of trustees appointed by him was able to set up Dyal Singh College.
It was to take another eighteen years before the third Board of Trustees
could setup Dyal Singh Public Library.

The idea of founding the public library was |pggested by the
Brahmo leader Pratap Chandra Mazumdar during his visit to Lahore
early in 1895, the year in which the Will was made. Mazumdar had
stayed in the rooms which were then known as the “barracks”, in
Nisbet Road. This was the site where Dyal Singh Public Library
later came to be built.

Dyal Singh had provided a sum of Rs. 60,000 and income from
the valuable building called ‘the Exchange.’ During the pendency
of the litigation, the building seems to have been managed by Dyal
Singh College Trust. In 1923 it was sold to the G; nga Ram Trust
for Rs. 423,000, which with Rs. 60,000 by Dyal Singh College Trust bad
become about Rs. 8 lakhs by 1928. And it was with this money that the
barracks were demolished and the public library’s imposing building
put up the selection of books for the library was excellent since its
inception in 1928. From the original members of the board of trustees,
Charles Golak Nath had died in 1911. Jogendra Chandra Bose also
passed away in 1921. An old hand of the library has told me that the
members of the Beard of Trustees in early 1939s were: Dewan Anand
Kumar, Chunilal, economist Brij Narain; Principal G. C. Chatterjee,
R. C. Soni, Bar at Law, Sita Ram Kohli and Ruchi Ram’s elder son
BJ. Sahni.

The library soon became popular. It had 3,000 regular members.
The number of books stocked in the library was 22,000. It is said
that P.C. Soni who, while visiting the Reserve Bank’s office in Lahore
in August 1947, saw that Government securities worth Rs. 7 lakhs
in the name of Dyal Singh Library were lying there. As a pleader
and trustee he took powers and brought them over to Delhi. And this
became the nuclus of funds to build Dyal Singh Public Library of
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

187

Book Review

The Sikhs in Ferment-Battles of the Sikh Gurus by Professor
Gurbachan Singh Nayyar, Published by National Book Organisation,
New Delhi, 1992, pp. XlII+127, price Rs. 175/-.

The book under review is the work of an as eminent a scholar
as Professor Gurbachan Singh Nayyar. The book has the impress
and authority of his erudition. It is a welcome addition to the
literature on Sikh history. The work deals with the compelling
circumstances that forced Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobi nd Singh
to transform their followers into a chivalrous race. It is a cogent
account of the valiant struggle of the sixth and tenth Gurus. Guru
Gobind Singh is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable person-
alities in history. In his short life span of forty two years he personi-
fied the concept of saint-soldier. He shook the people from the
comatose state of helplessness under the Mughal yoke and through
tremendous personal sacrifice brought back the spirit of honour and
bravery.

This is an indepth and analytic study based on original sources.
It is a highly readable account of the rise of Sikhism.

The Sikh in Ferment is also a valuable compendium of literary
evidence on a period that has always been, in a measure, controversial.
This study has attempted to remove some historical inaccuracies that
had crept into the history and had been accepted as facts.

The author has planned this work under seven chapters followed
by a comprehensive bibliography and index. There are eight photograps
in the book out of which two are of Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur
and the remaining six of the Gurdwaras of Muktsar.

In the opening chapter the learned author has endeavoured to make
a critial assessment of the contemporary and semi-cotemporary sources.
The ardhor has laid more emphasis on the Gurmukhi sources such as
Bhai Gurdas’s Vars, Sri Guru Sobha, Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevin, Sau Sakhi,
Gur Bilas Patshahi Das. Bansavalinama, etc. A critical appraisal of all
these sources forms the sum and substance of this chapter.

The following chapter traces the history of the Sikh thought
from roce ton roh or how the Sikhs passed on from transitioning

118

BOOK REVIEW

stage of mere protest to an armed resistance. It explicitly states how the
Sikhs resorted to an aggressive at the same time to defensive stage.
At times in the face of exigencies of the circumstances adopted
the calm and peaceful resistance offering sacrifices made for the
national cause. The demise of Guru Arjan momentarily made the
Sikhs remorseful and helpless but they remained a well organised
community ready to bear the onslaughts of the tyrannical government
with a dogged determination. Guru Hargobind taught the use of
arms to his followers seeing how peaceful resistance to oppression
had proved abortive. Several people offered to join his service (as
warrior) in the cause of dharma and very soon considerable number
of Majha youths were enlisted for the cause. They were the people
who offered to do and die for their religion and righteous cause.
These formed the nucleus of his future volunteer corps. They were
transformed into a new type of saint-warriors capable of defending
themselves and protecting others against the tyrannical oppression of
the intolerant rulers.

The army organisation of Guru Hargobind and his battles against
the Mughal Government has formed the third chapter. During Guru
Hargobind’s guruship five successful battles were fought: at Rohila
(1631), Amritsar 1634), Mehraj (1634), Kartarpur (1635), and Phagwara
(1635). The significance of the battles was that new vistas
were opened for a future course of action, to be followed by the
community.

The fourth chapter deals with the Pre-Khalsa battles of Guru
Gobind Singh against the Mughal fcrces and hill chiefs. The Guru
was obliged to fight all these battles against his wishes. These battles
were aggressively defensive. The chronology of the battles has been
narrated in their proper chronological order. The study of the battles
is macroscopic.

The fifth chapter ‘The Institution of the Khalsa’ takes notice of
the milieu of the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh and
describes its impact on the Sikhs and the future course of Punjab
history. The injunction for the Khalsa has to be seen in connection
with Guru Gobind Singh’s conception of God. The Guru wanted to
strengthen the organisation of the Khalsa and thus evolve out of the
Sikhs a powerful engine of revolutionary, a force to fight tyranny and
injustice.

The sixth chapter of the book, in fact, is a continuation of the
fourth chapter. It first enumerates the causes and events and then
delienates the two major problems faced by Guru Gobind Singh in

189

VOL.XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

terms of securing the life and honour of the down trodden and
fighting against the time honoured false social institutions by resisting
social and political tyranny.

The seventh chapter “Causes of the Success of the Sikhs and
their War Organisation' 5 enumerates as is clear from the title itself
the reasons behind the success of the Sikhs. The critical situation they
were passing through is also investigated by the author deligently.

The book is, on the whole, sauvely written.. Because of its authen-
ticity and reliability the book would be immensely useful for research-
ers as well as general readers. The general get up of the book is
good but the price is on the higher side.

DEVINDER KUMAR VERMA*

Chhotu Ram in the Eyes of His Contemporaries (ed.) by Pardaman
Singh, Gitanjali Publishing House. New Delhi, 1992, pp. VH-f 191,
price Rs. 190.

Dr Pardaman Singh’s Chhotu Ram has two methodological features
that not only distinguish it from all other works on this theme till
date but deserve the attention of all serious students of Punjab poiitics
from 1914 to 1945. First, the book is in relatively a new genre call-
ed oral history. As such it is based less on documents and more on
persons (forty four in this case) who have been actually living through
the events, and now cherish their memories in their own ways and
countries, India, Pakistan and Great Britain. In other words, we are
dealing with a living history which directly speaks through the men
none of whom is a historian in the conventional sense. As they narrate
event or the event-person, they usually fall back upon anecdotes,
myths and fables. Their ‘stories’ may or may not be true but are in-
dispensible for a historian, especially the one interested in a people’s
collective psychology or things like ethnicity and political ideology,
because they help him to identify the motive forces that have been
guiding them to group actions through the ages, and have been, doing
so, the motors of their history. Hence, oral history is not only a living
history but also a direct history. It means two things. First, history
is more or less beyond document. Two, it is not entirely the brain-
child of historian. It exists without the historian too because people

*Senior Lecturer, Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University,
Patiala.

BOOK REVIEW

perseve it to seme extent and for sometime. When collected it enriches
our documents and sharpens our sense of the past.

Further in this context. Dr Singh highlights the fact that the
source material in oral history is self-generating. The men from whom
information is derived talk as much of Chhotu Ram as of themselves
while describing their relationships with him. Their accounts are
simultaneously biographical and auto-biograpical.

Secondly, Chhotu Ram had a thirty-two page long Introduction by
the author. Substantial portion of it is related to Chhotu Ram’s
desertion from the Congress in the wake of Gandhi’s Non-coopera-
tion Movement. This poition is based upon official documents
collected from the record room of Rohtak D. C. For the first time
this material has been put to proper interpretation. It shows that
Chhotu Ram’s duties as a British created Zamindar provides us the
key to his not only anti-Congress posture but also his political be-
haviour as a Unionist. It also shows that the British, no less than
the Mughals and Sikhs ruled Punjab through the Zamindars.

One can gather from the book under review that B. H. Baden
Powell’s ‘I am a poor-man— a Zamindar’ thesis goes a long way to
explain Chhotu Ram’s ‘Bechara Zamindar’ ideology. But the latter
was helped by others too. By identifying nationalism and freedom
with swaraj for rural and caste upliftment, C. F. Andrews and Swami
Shardanand made it legitimate for Chhotu Ram to reduce or expand
the notion of Zamindar in accordance with his own needs. It could
be reduced to ‘Jat-Zamindar’ or streched to ‘Punjab Zamindar.’
‘Zamindara politics’ of the Punjab Unionists was a politics of village
against the city minus village. It was a response to ‘urban politics’
of the pre-Gandhian Congress. But it quickly acquired a character
of its own.

Going by the version of Chhotu Ram’s Contemporaries, he succeed-
ed in shaping the ‘Jat-Zamindars’ in his own image. What was this
image like ? It had the following elements or shades that were also
the phases through which it was formed —

1. ‘Bechara Zamindar’ — poor, inarticulate, unorganized but
exploited peasant without knowing his oppressor.

2. ‘Anti-bania Zamindar’ — struggle conscious farmer and capable
of identifying his exploiter as bania in the mandi.

3. ‘Active Zamindar’ ready to dabble into politics, organized
and articulate.

4. ‘Zamindar — politician’ — Kulak, political thinker and actor
in his own right.

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VOL. XXVI-I THE PANJAB PAST AND PRESENT APRIL 1992

5. ‘Punjab Zamindar’ — partially tamed by nationalism and
communalism but hardly capable of transcending any one of
the two, and an imperial being like the ‘Punjab administrator’
in the 19th century.

Events over-took Chhotu Ram but not his image, it lingers on
till date. All the ‘source-persons’ including Dr Pardaman Singh are
witness to this image. It cannot be otherwise. In oral history it is
difficult to distinguish author from the authors.

NAZER SINGH*

'Lecturer in History, Department of Correspondence,
Punjabi University, Patiala.

192

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